Love and Like
by js2801
Summary: He was sitting in the corner at the bar looking, no, blatantly staring at the most stunning girl at the party right now, Ginny Weasley. Its a H/Hr fic.
1. Hidden Feelings

**Disclaimer: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.**

**Author's Note:- Apologies for spelling and grammar mistakes.**

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**Hidden Feelings**

That girl was standing there, laughing at some joke her friend had just told her, and she was looking as beautiful as ever.

She looked gorgeous in her short black dress, which was clinging nicely to her attractive slim figure and which made her look strikingly delectable. Her lips were shining thanks to some flavored gloss she had put on, giving them a look of lush pink. Her hair, her fiery red hair were made in messy updo style with few tendrils framing her face nicely. Moreover, her light brown eyes sparkling with mischief were simply enhancing her beauty to the level where she was practically glowing. No matter how long he stared, he just couldn't get enough of her. All he could do was sit and gawk at her from the place where no one would notice him.

That's what Harry Potter was doing right now. He was sitting on one of the stool at the corner of the bar looking, no, blatantly staring at the most stunning girl at the party right now, Ginny Weasley.

These feelings didn't come out all of a sudden. It had started during his last year at Hogwarts.

Light side had emerged victorious in the war against Voldemort and Harry Potter along with his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had managed to survive the war.

After that, three of them along with their other classmates had decided to join the Hogwarts for their final year. For that reason, when they went back to Hogwarts they had combined classes with Ginny and her other year mates.

During his last year at Hogwarts, Harry had become the center of attraction for many girls, not just at Hogwarts, but outside Hogwarts as well. Each day some or the other girl would ask him out. However, Harry never really showed any interest in any of their proposals. He even got a letter from Cho Chang saying that she wanted to get back together with him, but Harry had politely declined her offer.

One thing that surprised him the most was that Ginny Weasley, who had a crush on him since like forever, didn't show much interest in him. They had become good friends as they were in the same year. She usually hung out with him, Ron and Hermione. However, she never gave any kind of indication that she wanted to cross the line of friendship with him. That's when he had started noticing her.

At first, he didn't take his feelings very seriously and for the next few months, he dated Susan Bones of Hufflepuff. However, he realized that he was becoming aware of Ginny's presence as a girl around him more and more.

Before long the final year ended and trio along with Ginny graduated from school with good marks, and excellent marks in Hermione's case, as she was the topper.

After graduation, Harry had joined the Auror department at the Ministry of Magic, Ron had joined Chudley Cannons as their reserved keeper, and Hermione had joined the Department of Magical Creatures at the Ministry. Ginny had started her career in modeling and soon she had become one of the top models of the country in both magical as well as the muggle world.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were living separately in London enjoying their lives.

Three years had passed since they had left the Hogwarts.

Now three years later Harry was sitting in the Leaky Cauldron enjoying the celebration party of his best friend, Ron Weasley. After being a part of the reserve team for last 2 years, Ron was finally going to play as the main keeper of Chudley Cannons permanently, as their star keeper Andrew Williams had retired last week after having a serious injury in the match against Puddlemere United.

Harry was sitting at the bar sipping his drink and looking at Ginny, who was now talking to Ron's girlfriend, Jessica Parker. She was a brunette with shoulder length hair and light blue eyes. Jessica worked for a model agency as their photographer and was a good friend with Ginny. Ron and Jessica had met through Ginny on one of her fashion shows. They both hooked up immediately and were inseparable since then.

Harry was completely lost in his thoughts when, "Why don't you just go over there and tell her how you feel?", a voice said from behind him.

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**Author's note: - Please leave a comment to tell me what you think.**


	2. Can I Cut In?

**Author's Note: - Apologies for spelling and grammar mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: - I don't own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.**

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**Can I Cut In?**

"_Why don't you just go over there and tell her how you feel?" a voice said from behind Harry. _

Harry turned around to see the familiar face of his best friend, Hermione Granger. She was standing behind him holding her drink and watching him staring at the redhead beauty.

Hermione walked towards Harry and sat on the empty stool next to him.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked feigning ignorance. Hermione simply rolled her eyes.

"You very well know what I am talking about. If you won't tell her, she wouldn't know." Hermione said austerely.

"I can't. What if she doesn't feel the same way? Also, she is dating that stupid Roger Davies right now." Harry said dejectedly.

Harry was not surprised that Hermione already knew about his feelings. He hadn't told anyone about his growing feelings towards Ginny, but somehow, Hermione always knew what was going through his mind, even if he never told her.

"Then, just sit here and keep sulking." Hermione said in an uninterested voice and took a sip of her drink.

Harry looked at her with narrowed eyes. "I am not sulking." He said firmly to prove his point.

Hermione just shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, could have fooled me." She replied sipping her drink and looking directly into Harry's eyes.

Harry scowled at her and she scowled back in return. They both glared at each other and then burst out laughing loudly.

"So what are you going to do now?" Hermione asked as she tried to bring her fast breathing to a normal pace.

"What about?" Harry asked though he already knew the answer.

Hermione once again rolled her eyes. She knew Harry was faking ignorance.

"Ginny of course, if you don't tell her now, later on it might be just too late." Hermione said looking at Harry.

Harry didn't answer back. He looked away from Hermione, and turned his eyes back to Ginny.

"I know." he said finally.

They both sat in silence for some time.

"What about you?" Harry asked unexpectedly.

"What about me?" Hermione asked looking puzzled.

"I heard that…Umm…what was the name of that bloke," Harry tried to remember the name.

"Yes Jacob! Ron told me that Jacob asked you out." Harry said looking at Hermione with curious expression.

Hermione just shrugged her shoulders. "I said no to him." Hermione replied nonchalantly.

"Why? I thought you liked him." Harry asked with a confused voice.

"He's a good friend. But I don't feel that way about him." Hermione replied in the same nonchalant manner.

Harry looked at Hermione with surprise. This was the only thing he never understood about her. Ever since they graduated from Hogwarts, Hermione had never dated anyone. Even in the school during their last year, many blokes had asked her out, but she never dated anyone. However, he had once heard from Ron who had heard it from Lavender, that Hermione was secretly in love with someone, though, they never found out who he was and Hermione never told them.

"You still like that secret guy on whom you had a crush on, during our school days." Harry said curiously. All his thoughts were focused on Hermione right now and he had actually forgotten about Ginny for the moment.

Hermione simply smiled at him.

"Yes. But I never felt the same way for anyone else." Hermione replied with a smile. It was the first time that Hermione had acknowledged her feelings for that mystery guy in front of Harry.

"Did you ever tell him about your feelings?" Harry asked seriously.

Hermione chuckled. "No, I didn't." She replied.

"Why not? You advise me to tell Ginny about my feelings and yet you didn't tell your mystery guy about your own feelings." Harry asked with bewilderment.

"Your case is completely different from mine, Harry. Ginny had a crush on you even before she knew anything about the _real you_. Moreover, there is a very strong possibility that she would reciprocate your feelings. However, in my case that's not possible. I cannot tell him about my feelings because he's already in love with someone else. So there's no possibility that he would ever return my feelings." Hermione said as a single tear rolled down her cheek, though her voice remained detached.

Harry was a bit taken aback by this. He never knew Hermione felt so strongly for that guy. He never liked it when she looked so sad. He reached for her and pulled her in his arms, holding her tightly to shield her from any kind of pain. Hermione hugged him back strongly.

Hermione pulled back after a couple of minutes.

"Thank you so much Harry. It means a lot to me." Hermione whispered softly and sat back on her seat.

"Who was that guy? Did I know him?" Harry asked.

"I am not going to tell you the name, but yes you know him." Hermione replied lightly.

Harry tried to guess who could be that person. As far as he remembered, he never really saw Hermione spending her time with any other guy. She regularly hung out with him and Ron. Could it be that it was Ron?

"Was it Ron?" Harry blurted out.

Hermione looked surprised at his insinuation.

"What makes you think it was Ron?" Hermione asked with a laugh.

"In school you spent most of your time with Ron and me. So there was a possibility that…." Harry just trailed off giving a knowing look to Hermione.

Hermione started laughing. "No Harry, it was not Ron." She replied.

"So was it me?" Harry blurted out. Others looked at the pair.

"Harry, keep your voice down." Hermione scolded.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled.

"So was it me?" he asked again with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

Hermione looked at him with amusement.

"I never had a crush on you, Harry." Hermione answered back with a smile. Harry sighed with relief.

"Would it really have been that bad if you were that guy?" Hermione asked imperturbably.

Harry nodded. "Yeah may be. You know it would have been a complete mess. I mean I have feelings for Ginny and then your feelings for me; it would have been a downright mess. I never want to hurt you." Harry responded with a sincere voice.

Hermione merely smiled at his explanation.

"You are a good man Harry Potter. Don't worry. It's my job to solve all your problems and I would never let your life be a mess. And that's because you are my best friend, nothing more nothing less." Hermione said in dramatic voice, trying to sound like an ancient emperor.

Harry started laughing at her tone.

Hermione glowered at him as she finished remaining contents of her drink.

"You know, Harry, you should not worry about me. I am over that guy. I mean only thing that I feel now is disappointment that nothing happened between us. I just got a little emotional remembering the old memories." Hermione said truthfully.

Harry looked at Hermione closely to detect if she was lying. However, he could see in her eyes that she wasn't being untruthful.

"Harry, I am not lying." Hermione stated seeing the searching look on her best friend's face.

"Okay, now if you don't want to tell Ginny about your feelings, at least enjoy this evening with her. Go and ask her for a dance." Hermione said in a gentle voice.

"But I don't know how to dance. Only person who could handle my dancing abilities is you." Harry said despondently.

Hermione huffed with irritation.

"Really Harry, do you honestly think they are dancing. They are just holding each other and moving their legs left, right, up and down." She said.

Harry started laughing at her description.

"Wow! I have heard many poetic descriptions about the dance before. However, this is something I have never heard before. You make it sound like a parade instead of a dance." He said with an amused voice.

Hermione glowered at Harry, but instead of cowering, Harry smiled widely at her.

"Now go and ask her." Hermione said in a mock scolding tone.

Harry got up and turned to make his way towards Ginny. However, he stopped abruptly; Ginny was already on the dance floor with Dean Thomas.

"Well, even Dean is faster than you." Hermione commented, trying to hide her smile.

"You think it's funny. Huh?" Harry said defiantly staring at his best friend.

However, it just made Hermione feel more amused.

"Yup!" She replied teasingly.

Hermione just rolled her eyes when Harry continued to glare at her.

"Oh honestly Harry! You need to grow up." She said exasperatedly. She put her glass down the counter, jumped from her the stool and grabbing Harry's hand she pulled him on the dance floor.

Hermione snaked her arms around Harry's neck and pulled him closer.

"Put your arms around my waist." Hermione commanded and a confused Harry did as she said. They both started swaying on the slow music.

"Why are we dancing?" Harry whispered in Hermione's ear pulling her closer than she already was.

"Do you want to dance with Ginny or not?" Hermione whispered back furiously while glancing at Ginny and Dean who were dancing close to Harry and Hermione.

"Yes," Harry replied longingly looking at the pair dancing next to him and Hermione.

"Look, I am going to ask Dean for a dance, and then you can dance with Ginny." Hermione said and before Harry could reply, she got out of his arms.

* * *

Dean and Ginny were dancing and talking about something. Hermione tapped on Ginny's shoulder. Ginny turned to look who it was.

"Can I cut in?" Hermione asked sweetly. Dean and Ginny looked confused for a moment and then Ginny stepped aside.

"Of course," She said with a smile.

Hermione immediately grabbed Dean's hand and pulled him away from Ginny.

Harry simply stood at the dance floor looking flabbergasted. He watched Hermione dragging Dean away and realized that Hermione was gesturing him towards Ginny.

Ginny was leaving the dance floor when she heard someone calling her name. She turned and saw that Harry was standing behind her.

"Oh! Harry," Ginny said acknowledging his presence.

"Yeah, would you like to dance with me?" Harry asked nervously.

"Why not?" Ginny replied encouragingly.

Harry grinned at her as they both started dancing together.

Harry was feeling nervous. He just didn't know what to say. It was kind of a laughing matter. During his early years at Hogwarts, it was Ginny, who behaved nervous and shy around him. However, now situations had completely reversed. Now Harry was the one who behaved nervous around Ginny and she looked comfortable around him.

"Party is progressing well. Isn't it?" Ginny said breaking the silence. Harry jerked out of his trance.

"Yeah," Harry agreed looking around the party. Everyone seems to enjoy and have fun at the party.

"Ron definitely knows how to throw a party." He added with a smile, feeling very happy for his best friend.

"It's been quite some time since we had a proper conversation." Ginny commented out of the blue.

Harry looked at her.

"You're right. Ever since the school has ended, we haven't really spent any quality time together." Harry said musingly.

"So how is it going on in the modeling world? If I am not wrong, you are one of the top models of England." Harry asked feeling relaxed.

Ginny blushed at his compliment.

"It's going well, but I have also received an offer from the Harpies to join them as a chaser. I am just so confused right now. I mean I love playing Quidditch, but I never really thought about playing it at the professional level. I just don't know what to do?" Ginny said looking anxious.

"Don't worry, Ginny. If you really want to play Quidditch, then go for it. You would be an excellent chaser and Harpies would be lucky to have you with them." Harry said with a smile.

"Thanks Harry. I am feeling much better after talking to you." Ginny replied softly.

They both danced for next few minutes in silence. Harry looked towards Hermione and Dean. They both were chatting as they continued to dance. Dean whispered something in Hermione's ear, making her laugh softly. For some reason, Harry didn't like that Dean was able to make Hermione laugh so easily. It just became a passing thought when he realized that Ginny was saying something to him.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Harry asked looking apologetic.

"I was asking about your Auror training?" Ginny replied in a laughing voice.

"Oh! Um…It's actually going great." Harry replied.

Ginny just smiled in return.

Song ended, but Harry and Ginny continued to dance on the next song.

* * *

Harry felt someone tapping on his shoulder. It was Roger Davies.

"Can I dance with my girlfriend?" He asked politely.

"Yes, of course." Harry said. Roger took Ginny's hand and led her in another direction to dance.

"Asshole," Harry grumbled. He looked around the dance floor to find Hermione. She was dancing with Ernie Macmillan now. He walked towards them.

"Can I cut in?" Harry asked. Ernie gave him an irritated look. Harry simply ignored it. Without waiting for Ernie's answer, he grabbed Hermione's hand and took her a little away from Ernie.

He turned around and pulled an astonished Hermione in his arms, holding her tightly against himself. They both started moving on the dance floor.

"Harry, what was that?" Hermione asked calmly.

"What the hell that idiot thinks of himself?" Harry said irately, "Can I dance with my girlfriend?" he said mimicking Roger's voice.

"Will you be a little more descriptive?" Hermione said sternly, "And what are you doing here with me? You should be dancing with Ginny right now."

"Well, I was dancing with Ginny. We were having a nice conversation until that idiot boyfriend of hers came and took her away." Harry complained.

Hermione heaved a sigh. "Harry, just calm down, okay." Hermione said in a soothing voice, "At least you got a chance to dance with her."

Harry smiled at Hermione. "Yeah, it was really good. I didn't feel awkward, nor did I step on her feet while dancing." He said happily and all of a sudden, he leaned down and kissed Hermione on the forehead.

"Thanks to you," He said. Hermione looked at Harry oddly, but didn't say anything.

"What?" Harry asked perplexedly.

"Nothing," Hermione replied.

"Let's go and join Ron and Jessica." Hermione spoke after sometime, gesturing towards where Ron was sitting with his girlfriend, waving at his best friends to join him.

Harry nodded and left the dance floor with Hermione.

* * *

"Hey guys," Ron said excitedly as Harry and Hermione came over to his table.

"Hey Ron, Jessica," Hermione said nodding towards her best friend and brunette sitting next to him.

"You sure know how to throw a party, mate." Harry said appreciatively as he and Hermione sat down. Ron beamed at his best friends feeling pleased with the appreciation.

"Hey," Ginny said as she joined them as Roger had left the party due to some urgent work.

"Hi Ginny," Jessica said looking at her friend.

"What are you doing here? Where's that boyfriend of yours?" Ron said sarcastically. He had never liked Roger since the Hogwarts' days and watching his only sister dating him, irked Ron to no end.

Ginny glared at Ron. She was about to retort, but Hermione interrupted her.

"Leave her alone, Ron. Ginny, why don't you join us. There's an extra chair next to Harry." Hermione said.

"Thanks," Ginny replied sitting next to Harry. Five of them talked for some time, though Ron and Ginny avoided talking with each other and soon time was close to midnight. Guests were starting to leave. After all the guests left, Ron, Jessica, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Fred, George and Lee Jordan were the only ones left behind.

Ron was ecstatic. "Wow! Finally, it's over." He said, "Thanks to you both, party was so amazing." He said to his twin brothers.

"Anything for you, dear brother," George said.

"This is the last chocolate frog I am left with. Would you like to have it?" Fred asked casually offering the chocolate to Ron.

"Yeah sure," Ron said lost in his euphoric mood. He popped the chocolate frog in his mouth and started eating it without thinking.

"What?" Ron asked astonishingly when everyone started laughing including Jessica. Instead of 'what', a strange sound came out of his mouth. A laughing Hermione took out her wand from her jeans pocket and conjured a mirror in front of Ron.

Ron's eyes widened as he saw his reflection. His skin color had changed to red, yellow feathers were sticking out of his hair, and in the place of his mouth he was having a small beak, making him look like some eccentric bird. Looking at his reflection, he started making noises like a duck.

"You sound like Donald Duck." Hermione said with a chuckle.

"Who?" Twins asked in unison.

"No one," Hermione said dismissively. She was in no mood to explain twins about the cartoons in the muggle world.

Ron was getting very agitated and furious with himself for becoming an easy target for twins.

"Calm down Ronnikins. Here, take this, it will change you back." George said in a laughing voice giving another chocolate to Ron. Ron eyed the chocolate suspiciously, and then put it into his beak. After a couple of seconds, he was back to normal. He was furious with his brothers.

"How dare you use that thing on me, what if I would have looked like this forever?" Ron yelled.

"Relax, Ron." Jessica said lovingly. Ron looked at his girlfriend's lovely face and calmed down a bit.

"We should better leave before our dear brother start attacking us with his pointed beak." Fred announced cheekily and before Ron could retort twins vanished along with their best friend, Lee. Ron made a huffing sound, but others ignored him.

"I think we should leave as well." Hermione said tiredly. Everyone agreed with her.

"Harry, would you mind taking Ginny home since Ron seems a little drunk right now?" Hermione said innocently.

"Hey, I am not drunk." Ron grumbled, though he could feel the effects of alcohol he consumed throughout the party. He had started to feel lightheaded.

"It's not necessary." Ginny said.

"It's Ok, I don't mind." Harry said trying to sound casual.

"Jessica, can you do the side-along apparition with Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, no problem," Jessica said.

"Hey Tom, your drinks were great." Ron shouted out of the blue. Tom simply smiled at him and went back to his work.

Hermione took a deep breath and said, "Let's go then."

After saying their goodbyes, five of them apparated to the destinations where they were planning to go.

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Around 12:30 A.M. Harry silently apparated into Hermione's apartment. He assumed that Hermione was already in her bed as all the lights in the apartment were switched off.

Harry made his way towards her bedroom and slowly opened the door. Hermione was in her bed sleeping peacefully. Harry smiled at her sleeping form and entered the bedroom. He went to the other side of the bed and sat down. After kicking his shoes off, he got into the covers with Hermione.

'I can't wait to see her face in the morning when she would find me in her bed.' Harry thought amusedly, feeling sleepy and soon sleep took over him.

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**Author's Note: - Looking forward to the reviews.**


	3. Revelation

**Author's note: - Apologize in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: - I don't own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.**

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**Revelation**

'_I can't wait to see her face in the morning when she would find me in her bed.' Harry thought amusedly, feeling sleepy and soon sleep took over him._

Hermione stirred a bit coming, out of her deep slumber. She was glad that it was Sunday, as she didn't want to get out of her bed until noontime. Last night's party had really tired her out a lot more than she had expected. She had come home around 12 at midnight, and after changing into her nightclothes, she had gone to her bed straightaway.

Leisurely she stretched her body and turned to her side to get into a comfortable position. She almost fell down and realized that she was lying on the edge of the bed. Without opening her eyes, she shifted away from the edge and got herself into a relaxed position.

She could feel the sunlight warming her room, though she didn't remember leaving the curtains open last night. She slowly opened her eyes to take in the glory of morning sunlight, and instead of meeting the bright sunlight her eyes met two twinkling and amused emerald orbs.

Therefore, Hermione gave the most natural reaction one could expect from a human being in such a situation, she screamed.

Harry clamped Hermione's mouth shut with his hand.

"Hermione, stop screaming or you will be thrown out of this building for waking others so early in the morning, that too on a Sunday morning." Harry said in a laughing voice.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and pushed him away from her.

"What the hell are you doing here in my bed?" Hermione shouted.

Instead of cringing Harry smirked at her, his emerald green eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Last night I came here to talk with you," Harry thought for a moment, then said, "or probably this morning since it was already past midnight. You were sleeping, so I got into the bed next to you, waiting for you to wake up, and then I fell asleep as well." Harry said as though if it was the most logical explanation in the whole world.

Hermione covered her face in frustration. "Arghh! Why do I even bother to ask you?" she said frustratingly.

"Good question," Harry agreed solemnly, though his eyes were full of mirth.

Hermione hit him on the arm playfully making Harry grin at her widely, his eyes dancing with hilarity.

Hermione tilted her head on side and looked at Harry curiously.

"You know, Harry, if Ginny found out that you slept with me _in my bed_, she'll never go out with you." Hermione said mischievously.

Harry looked horrified at this. "But we didn't do anything except sleeping." He said.

"But only we know that. Who's going to believe us? People already believe that we are having a secret affair behind everyone's back." Hermione said with a teasing smile. She was enjoying it a bit too much.

It took a minute for Harry to realize that Hermione was joking. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You are pulling my leg. Aren't you?" Harry asked in a mock threatening voice.

Hermione started laughing at this. "That's what you get for sleeping in my bed, covering the whole bed, and pushing me towards the edge." Hermione said as her laughter subsided.

"Hey, I didn't take the whole bed." Harry said in a complaining voice.

"Oh yes, you did. I almost fell off the bed." Hermione said pushing the covers off her and getting out of the bed.

Hermione made her way towards the bathroom, hoping that Harry would leave her alone for the day, as she had to finish some of her office work and do some grocery shopping as well.

* * *

When Hermione came out of the bathroom, Harry was not in the room, and his shoes were missing as well. Thinking that he had already left, she quickly dressed herself for the day and walked out of the room to prepare some breakfast.

When she entered the kitchen, Harry was there and he was busy preparing the breakfast.

"Hey," He said when he saw Hermione entering into the kitchen.

"Hi," Hermione replied standing on the other side of kitchen counter, in front of Harry.

"It smells good." Hermione said looking at the noodles Harry was preparing in the frying pan.

"Your favorite," Harry said and winked at his best friend. Hermione simply smiled in return.

After Harry finished making breakfast, Hermione helped him in setting up the table and they both sat to eat the breakfast.

"Wow Harry! It's delicious." Hermione said in an appreciative voice after tasting the noodles.

"Thanks," Harry said with a smile and took a sip of his orange juice.

"So, how did it go with Ginny last night?" Hermione asked with a knowing look in her eyes.

Harry smiled widely. "It was nice. We talked about many things like school, work, Quidditch, friends, Ron, and you. Moreover, she didn't even mention that stupid Davies." He said.

"Did you tell her how you feel about her?" Hermione asked, though she already knew the answer.

Harry scratched the back of his neck nervously.

Hermione squeezed his hand. "Harry, you should tell her. You need to take this risk. You can't go on forever like this, pinning for her and hoping that one day she would notice you." She said in a serious tone.

Harry looked at Hermione with a thoughtful expression on his face, contemplating what she had said.

"I think you're right. What do you think she would say?" Harry said.

Hermione thought for a moment. She knew that Ginny had the non-platonic feelings for Harry ever since the day she had met him for the first time on Kings Cross station.

Ginny had talked with Hermione many times about her feelings during their Hogwarts' years.

During her third year, Ginny had told Hermione that she had wanted Harry to ask her to be his date for the Yule Ball, and she was unhappy when Harry had started dating Cho Chang in his fifth year. However, at present Hermione didn't know how Ginny felt about Harry. They weren't very close now. Their closeness had faded since the war against Voldemort ended. They kind of had a strained relationship, perhaps because Harry took her with him on the Horcrux hunt instead of Ginny, who had insisted to go with Harry and help with the secret mission.

Hermione knew that Ginny was always a little jealous of her for the closeness and friendship she shared with Harry. Even though Ron too was very close to Harry, Hermione was closer to him and Ginny had always wanted that closeness with Harry.

Hermione was shocked when she heard that Ginny had started dating Roger Davies, who had once dated Harry's ex-girlfriend Cho Chang. She wanted to know what Ginny was thinking when she agreed to go out with Davies, but it wasn't her place to ask Ginny about it, at least not anymore.

"I don't know what to say, Harry. But she had very strong feelings for you during our Hogwarts' years. I think she still feels the same way. Maybe she just gave up on you and started dating Roger." Hermione suggested.

"Yeah," Harry replied dejectedly.

They both sat quietly during the next few minutes and finished their breakfast. After finishing the breakfast and washing up the dishes, they both were sitting on the couch in the living room lost in their thoughts.

"I think I would tell her today." He said unexpectedly.

Hermione looked startled at his sudden words. After composing herself, she nodded.

"I am done waiting. Today I will tell her about my feelings." Harry continued.

"All the best," Hermione wished him luck with a wide smile, feeling glad that Harry had finally decided to work upon his feelings, something she never had courage to do in her final year at Hogwarts.

Harry got up from the couch and made his way towards the front door. Hermione followed him to the door. Suddenly Harry turned around and hugged her tightly. Hermione was shocked for a minute, and then hugged him back.

Harry pulled back a little, but didn't let go Hermione from his embrace.

"Thank you so much for everything, Hermione. I don't know what I would do without you." Harry said in a heartfelt voice.

Hermione was touched by his gesture and caressed his cheek lovingly.

"Well, without me you still would have been in your first year trying to pass your exams." Hermione replied lightheartedly.

Harry laughed at this. "True, very true," He said agreeing with her. Hermione simply smiled at his laughing face, she loved it whenever Harry smiled or laughed without any sign of constant worry on his face.

"Now you better leave. Ginny must be at her home right now." Hermione said.

"Yeah," Harry said. He kissed Hermione on her forehead and quickly left the apartment.

* * *

It had been more than three weeks since the last time Hermione had seen Harry. The last time she had seen him was the day when he had left her apartment to go and let Ginny know about his feelings.

Hermione also had been busy with her work in her department. Recently, she was promoted to the position of Deputy of Department of Magical Creatures, and head of the department was on an official leave due to some personal matters. As a result, it was Hermione's duty to look after the whole department along with her other responsibilities as the deputy head of the department.

Even though they both worked in the same ministry building, Hermione had not been able to contact Harry for last three weeks. In addition, Harry didn't come to meet her either. She had been expecting him to come to her to talk about what happened between him and Ginny, but she hadn't heard anything from him.

'Today, I am going to talk to him.' Hermione thought as she made her way out of her office and walked towards the lift. After sometime lift opened, Hermione stepped inside and pressed the button showing _level two_ for Department of Magical Law Enforcement, where Aurors' department was located.

Hermione stepped out of the lift and immediately came face-to-face with Neville Longbottom.

Neville Longbottom was a former classmate of Harry, Ron, and Hermione at Hogwarts and a very good friend as well. After graduating from Hogwarts, he had joined the Auror training program and now he was one of the best Auror trainees at the Aurors' department along with Harry.

"Hey Hermione," He said cheerfully as his eyes fell on Hermione.

"Hi Neville, how are you?" Hermione said with a warm smile.

"I am fine. How are you doing? And, congratulations for the promotion." Neville said the last part appreciatively.

"Thank you," Hermione said blushing a bit.

"So what brings you here?" Neville asked.

"I was on my way to meet Harry." Hermione replied.

Neville looked confused at her answer. "Don't you know?" He asked.

Now it was Hermione's turn to look confused. "What about, did something happen to Harry? We haven't been in contact for last three weeks." She asked feeling tensed.

Neville looked a little nervous at her reply.

"Umm…Well, you know, Harry has been suspended from the Auror program for two months." Neville replied apprehensively.

"What?" Hermione said loudly.

"Shhh…" Neville gestured Hermione to bring her voice down. He looked around if anyone was listening to them and sighed with relief when he realized that nobody was there near the lift. He took Hermione's hand, steered her to the side of the lift, and started speaking.

"Three weeks back Auror department was planning to raid some of the empty warehouses on the outskirts of London. Two teams were prepared for this mission. Some of the trainees were also part of these teams and Harry was one of them. When he had come to the office that morning, he was looking dejected and moody, and he had almost jeopardized the mission due to his lack of attention." Neville said and took a deep breath before continuing.

"Ricardo was in-charge of the mission and he immediately suspended Harry after the mission was over. I haven't seen Harry since that day." Neville said despondently.

Hermione was shocked, would have been an understatement. She was beyond being shocked, she felt like crying. She was angry with herself for not talking to Harry sooner, but she was also mad at Harry. So much had happened in last few weeks and he didn't feel like telling her.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Neville asked tentatively, disturbing Hermione's thought process.

Hermione sighed and looked at Neville. "Yeah, I am fine." she replied gloomily, "I should better leave before Ricardo finds me here." She said with a fake laugh and without waiting for Neville's reply, she walked back towards the lift and pressed the button to open the lift.

* * *

Hermione was standing outside Harry's apartment contemplating about what to do next. It was 6:30 PM, and she was hoping that Harry would be at home.

She was feeling very anxious about seeing Harry. She wanted to apprate straight into his apartment, but she wasn't sure how he would react. Thus, she decided to enter from the front door with his permission.

Gathering all her Gryffindor courage, she rang the bell. She waited for five minutes, but there was no answer from other side of the door. She once again rang the bell, but to no avail. Finally, when she was done waiting, she decided to apprate straight into the apartment. She looked around to see if anyone was there and found out that whole corridor was empty. She closed her eyes and disappeared with a soft 'POP'.

Hermione appeared back in Harry's living room. Room was completely in disorder. Various things were scattered around the room including cloths and some empty Firewhisky bottles. Now she was sure Harry was at home.

She walked towards his bedroom and softly knocked on the door. When there was no answer, she slowly opened the door.

Harry was lying in the bed, his legs tangled with the covers. Hermione walked inside the room. She found Harry's broken spectacles on the floor and picked them up. With a quick swish of her wand, she repaired them. She walked towards the bed and put the repaired glasses on the nightstand.

Harry was a complete mess. His cloths were dirty and completely wrinkled as though if he hadn't changed out of them for last few days. His eyes were half closed and he was murmuring some unintelligible words to himself, definitely the aftereffects of Firewhisky.

Hermione sat on the edge of the bed and shook Harry lightly.

"Harry," she called in a soft voice. But Harry didn't reply, he just closed his eyes at her touch.

"What are you doing here, Hermione?" He asked, surprisingly in a clear voice.

"Harry, I want to talk to you and please, get out of this bed." Hermione said.

Harry turned away from her. "Just go away, Hermione. I don't want to talk to you right now." Harry replied in a depressed voice.

Hermione knew Harry was a very stubborn person and wouldn't come out of the bed without putting up any resistance. However, she wasn't going to let it go so easily. He was going to come out of the bed and talk to her.

"Harry, get out of the bed right now." Hermione commanded. But Harry didn't say anything. Hermione tried a few times to talk with him, but he didn't say anything in return.

Hermione was running out of her patience. She got up from the bed and conjured at bucket filled with chilled water in the mid air, and next second, Harry was completely soaked in icy water.

Harry yelped in shock and quickly sat up. Cold water was dripping all over him as he glared at Hermione, even though he couldn't see her clearly.

"Why the hell did you do that for?" Harry yelled at her angrily, "Just get the hell out of here."

Hermione was shocked at his outburst. Angry tears filled her eyes at his angry tone.

"I did this because I want to talk to you and you are acting like a complete jerk." Hermione shouted back as a tear rolled down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away.

Harry's shoulders slumped down a bit. He looked crushed and defeated as he stared down at his lap in shame for hurting his best friend.

"She said she doesn't feel the same way for me, as I feel for her. She said she's very happy with Roger Davies." Harry replied desolately.

"Oh Harry," Hermione said in a concerned voice. She could practically feel the pain and burden of his unrequited feelings.

She quickly got into the bed and hugged Harry tightly. After a few seconds, she felt him wrapping his arms around her securely and burying his face in her bushy curls. He was holding on to her as if she was the last drop of water on the whole planet. To Hermione's relief Harry wasn't crying, he just held on to her to feeling assurance, to know that he wasn't alone and that his best friend was there for him and would always be there for him.

* * *

**Author's note:- So what do you think? Tell me through your reviews.**


	4. Finally Smiling

**Author's note: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: - I don't own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.**

* * *

**Finally Smiling**

_She quickly got into the bed and hugged Harry tightly. After a few seconds, she felt him wrapping his arms around her securely and burying his face in her bushy curls. He was holding on to her as if she was the last drop of water on the whole planet. To Hermione's relief Harry wasn't crying, he just held on to her to feeling assurance, to know that he wasn't alone and that his best friend was there for him and would always be there for him._

* * *

After what seemed like hours, Hermione pulled back and took a good look at Harry. He looked better than what he looked like when she had entered the room. His eyes looked clearer and focused. Even though, his clothes and body stunk due to the alcohol he had been consuming for quite some time now, his appearance looked a lot better than a those drunken men, who spend a whole night drinking in some grimy pub located in some dingy corner of the city.

Harry looked at Hermione with sleepy eyes and gave her a small smile, although he still looked depressed and overwhelmed. However, Hermione knew the worst was over, and he would only get better from here.

Harry emitted a huge yawn and fell back into his bed.

"Oh, no…no…no, dear," Hermione said in a perfect imitation of Mrs. Weasley. She pulled Harry back into sitting position and then pulled him out of his bed.

"You are not allowed to sleep, Mr. Potter." Hermione said in a stern voice, even though one could see a tender smile underneath the façade of austerity.

"But I want to sleep Hermione." Harry complained, rubbing his eyes to remove the drowsiness from them.

"Sorry Harry, but you are going to take a good hot bath. You are stinking." Hermione said screwing up her nose in disgust to prove her point, "I'll prepare something to eat and then we are going to talk. Okay?" She said giving him a look that said _yes is the only option, you have._

"Yes," Harry grumbled.

"What? I didn't hear you clearly." Hermione, despite knowing what he had said, pretended to lean towards Harry to hear clearly, what he has to say.

"I said, yes." Harry said loudly, frustration evident in his voice.

"Good," Hermione said with satisfaction, unfazed by his loud voice.

Hermione left the room, leaving a gobsmacked Harry behind.

"Mental, she is." He said to nobody and made his way towards the bathroom.

* * *

Hermione went into the kitchen. She found an old packet of bread and some cheese in the freezer and some milk that smelled unpleasant. She dumped them into the dustbin and decided to make a quick visit to the nearby grocery store. She had gone there many times before to buy things for Harry. She wrote a small note for Harry telling him about going to grocery store and left the apartment.

After taking a long shower, Harry was feeling better. He came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, and took out a fresh pair of black jeans and a white t-shirt from the wardrobe. After putting on his clothes Harry looked around his room, which looked like a complete mess with various things scattered around. He picked up his wand from the nightstand next to his bed and started casting cleaning charms around his room. After around 15 minutes, room looked in much better state than it looked earlier. Dirty clothes were in laundry basket, various small things scattered around were back in their places. Only things left were few empty bottles of Firewhisky. With a flick of his wand bottles vanished.

After looking around his room with some satisfaction, he made his way out of the room and into the kitchen, only to find that Hermione was not there. He panicked for a moment. Then, he found the note on the kitchen counter and sighed with relief. He went back to his living room and started casting cleaning spells.

* * *

By the time Hermione came back, whole apartment was clean.

"Good work, Harry." Hermione said appreciatively as she looked around the clean living room.

Harry simply smiled in return. He took the bags filled with grocery things from her hand and made his way to the kitchen, Hermione followed.

"So what would you like to eat?" Hermione asked Harry, once all the grocery things were put in their places.

Harry shrugged in return. "Whatever you like," He said dispassionately.

Hermione sighed at his attitude, but stopped herself from saying anything.

"Why don't you go out and watch TV, and I'll prepare something for us to eat." Hermione suggested. Harry simply nodded, showing no sign of protest and left the kitchen without glancing back.

Hermione was feeling very sad for her best friend. She was shocked that Ginny rejected his feelings so easily. She was also sad that Harry fell in love with someone who didn't return his feelings. Too bad, sometimes it felt like pain of unrequited feelings was worse than a Cruciatus curse.

Hermione had a very good experience in the field of unrequited love. At least this time while comforting Harry she could say that _I know how it feels Harry, _she thought with an inner chuckle.

She forced all the negative thoughts out of her mind and started working on preparing some sandwiches and two mugs of hot chocolate for her and Harry.

Once everything was prepared and set in a tray, Hermione levitated the tray out in the living room. She lowered the tray carefully on the table in front of the couch Harry was sitting on. He was sitting there, his eyes closed as though if he was dozing. However, looking at his tensed shoulders Hermione knew that he was doing anything, but sleeping.

Hermione sat next to him, and Harry, feeling her presence next to him, opened his eyes.

Hermione gestured towards the table with her thumb. "Let's eat." She said.

Harry just nodded, albeit reluctantly. He picked up a sandwich from the tray and Hermione handed him the mug of hot chocolate. They started eating in silence.

Hermione waited for him to speak, but when he did not say anything for next ten minutes, Hermione decided to break the quiet.

"So Harry, how are you feeling now?" Hermione asked taking a bite of the sandwich.

Harry didn't reply and continued to eat his sandwich.

"I shouldn't have told her about my feelings." Harry spoke suddenly his voice filled with anger.

"And, why not?" Hermione asked unsympathetically.

Harry looked at her as though if she had gone mad.

"Don't you see what happened? She clearly rejected my feelings." Harry said crossly.

"So what would you have done then, huh? Let me guess you would have pined for her for the rest of your life hoping that one day she would fall in your arms and confess her undying love for you. Isn't it? And, until then you would make yourself and people around you miserable." Hermione said harshly, all her anger and frustration coming forth.

She detested it with a passion to see Harry sad and defeated. His negative attitude had scared her. She remembered the days after the final battle. Harry was living like an empty shell, it was as if he had lost his will to live. Hermione was scared that he might try to hurt himself. Fortunately, Harry finally let her in after her constant attempts to help him. Since then they both had become a lot closer than they were ever before. She never wanted him to go back on that path of depression and hopelessness ever again. She would do anything in her power to make sure that Harry lives a happy life.

Harry looked shocked at her outburst, and then his shock turned into sadness. He looked away from Hermione.

Hermione's eyes filled with tears, she felt guilty at her behavior and for hurting Harry. Harry was her biggest strength, but he was also her biggest weakness. She hated it whenever anybody hurt Harry. And right now, she was loathing herself for hurting him. She took Harry's hand in her own and squeezed it. Harry turned his face to look at her.

"I am sorry Harry." Hermione said with choked voice as tears freely flowed from her eyes. Harry quickly sat straight, looking alarmed at the sight of tears in his best friend's eyes.

"Oh Hermione," Harry said concernedly. He immediately pulled Hermione in his arms, holding her firmly against his body, her head resting on his firm chest. Hermione's arms tightened around him as her body shook with heavy sobs.

"I am so sorry Harry. I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." Hermione said in a strangled voice.

She kept repeating her apologies. Harry pulled her on his lap and made soothing voices in her ear until she calmed down a bit.

Once Hermione was sure that she could speak without breaking down, she pulled back from him, but didn't leave his embrace.

Harry wiped her tears away with his thumb and kissed her forehead.

"I am sorry for my insensitive comment, Harry. I didn't want to hurt you. I don't know what came over me." Hermione apologized with her face down. She was looking at his chest, unable to meet his eyes due to shame.

Harry cupped her cheek, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"I don't blame you, Hermione. In fact, it should be me who should apologize." Harry said in a caring voice. Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but Harry shook his head.

"You are right. I can't waste away my life pining for Ginny." Harry said, "You know, I think you are going to get your name in Guinness book of world records for being_ right_ for most number of times in the whole world." He added jokingly.

Hermione smiled at him sheepishly.

"What can I say, I have this talent of being right, which comes quite handy most of the times. However, in case of Ron, most of the times I use it at the wrong time on the right place. He has the firsthand experience of it." Hermione said in a laughing voice.

Harry burst out laughing at this, forgetting everything about Ginny. Hermione simply smiled at her laughing best friend. She stood up from his lap and sat next to him on the couch.

Once Harry's laugh subsided, Hermione decided to touch another sensitive subject.

"Neville told me that you have been suspended for two months." Hermione said.

"Yeah," Harry said quietly, once again feeling depressed.

Hermione squeezed his shoulder to comfort him.

"Don't get depressed Harry. Look at the positive side of suspension." Hermione said trying to sound cheerful.

"And what could that be?" Harry asked looking confused.

"When was the last time you went to meet Teddy?" Hermione asked with raised eyebrows.

Harry's eyes widened with realization. "Oh," he said guiltily.

"Yes, oh," Hermione said with a smirk, and then she continued, "Yesterday I was in Diagon Alley due to some office work. There I ran into Mrs. Tonks. She said that Teddy misses you a lot." She said.

Harry rubbed his temple tiredly. "Some godfather I am," he said dolefully.

"You know what, Harry, get your butt out of the pit of your self-pity. Go and meet Teddy. You still have… what….umm…around five weeks of suspension or more like vacation left, before you have to report back to the Auror department. Spend it with your godson and friends. Do whatever you want to do. Go to Hogwarts to relive the old days, go to Quidditch matches, get a new girlfriend, have one-night stand," Hermione stopped for a moment to think, "Umm…no cancel the one-night stand part…but you know what I am trying to say. Just have fun." Hermione said passionately, "And you are the best godfather." She added.

She stopped and looked at Harry who was looking back at her grinning widely, his eyes sparkling with her favorite mischievous glint.

"What?" She asked suspiciously.

"What's wrong with a one-night stand?" He asked cheekily.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and looked ready to attack him any moment. Harry quickly got up from the couch.

"Okay, okay. Just relax, I was just teasing." Harry said defensively.

"Fine," Hermione said calmly. Once Harry was sure that she wouldn't attack him, he sat back on the couch next to her.

After that, both of them finished the remaining sandwiches and hot chocolate, which Hermione had reheated. They both slumped on the couch, their eyes closed, their stomach full and feeling sated.

"Harry," Hermione called drowsily, without opening her eyes.

"What?" Harry replied sluggishly.

Hermione opened her eyes and looked at her best friend. "You didn't congratulate me for my promotion." She said sleepily.

Harry looked shocked at his own stupidity. "Oh shit," He cursed.

"I am so sorry Hermione and congratulations." Harry said pulling Hermione in his embrace.

He gave her a tight hug and pulled back. "I am sorry. I completely forgot about it. I'll make it up to you. I promise." He said.

"It's alright Harry." Hermione reassured him with a smile. Harry smiled in return, relief written on his face.

Then, Hermione thought for a moment and spoke, "If you want to make up for your forgetfulness, let me sleep here for the night. It's already dark outside and I am too tired to apparate to my flat." She said, her eyes filled with amusement.

"But this is a one-room apartment and there's only one bed." Harry said looking suspicious of his best friend's intentions.

"So," Hermione said innocently.

"So? I am not going to sleep on the couch." Harry said stubbornly.

Hermione pouted at him. "So are you going to make a girl sleep on the couch, Harry?" She asked in a child-like voice.

Harry knew Hermione was teasing him, so he decided to play along. "No, we can always share the bed." He replied playfully and winked at her.

Hermione's eyes widened at this. She wasn't expecting it. "No thanks," she grumbled feeling disappointed for not having a witty retort, "I would very much prefer to sleep in my own bed, _alone._" She said emphasizing on the last word, and then she got up to leave. Harry was laughing by now. He grabbed Hermione's wrist to stop her and got up from the couch.

"I was just joking, Hermione. Come on, let's get you changed in some comfortable clothes and then I'll even tuck you in." He said amusedly and pulled Hermione along with him towards his bedroom.

Harry opened his wardrobe and took out his old Gryffindor Quidditch team's jersey and an athletic-style boxer for Hermione to wear. He handed them to Hermione, and then he took out another pair of boxer and t-shirt for himself and closed the wardrobe.

"But Harry, I don't want you to sleep on the couch. It would be very uncomfortable. I was just joking. I can apparate to my flat. I have no problem, really." Hermione said in a sincere voice.

"Hermione, did you forget I am a wizard? I can always transfigure the couch into a comfortable bed." Harry said in a laughing voice.

Hermione blushed and gave a small smile to Harry. "I guess, I forgot." She murmured.

Harry simply laughed in return. "Now go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning." He said and turned to leave.

"Harry, aren't you going to tuck me in?" Hermione said teasingly, just when Harry reached to the door.

Harry turned around to look at his best friend. He stared at her curiously for a second and then rolled his eyes at her.

"Good night, Hermione, sleep well." He said with a smile and closed the door.

Hermione smiled dreamily. She was happy that Harry was smiling again.

"Good night, Harry," She whispered into the room and made her way towards the bathroom to change out of her work clothes.

* * *

**Author's note**: - Please tell me through your **REVIEWS** what you think of this chapter.


	5. Teddy Time

**Author's note: - Apologizing in advance for grammar and spelling mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: - I don't own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.**

"_Good night, Hermione, sleep well." He said with a smile and closed the door._

_Hermione smiled dreamily. She was happy that Harry was smiling again._

"_Good night, Harry," She whispered into the room and made her way towards the bathroom to change out of her work clothes._

**Teddy Time**

Hermione was awake; however, she was anxious to open her eyes. She nestled her nose in the pillow where she could breathe in the familiar cologne of her best friend. It'd been a long time since she had thought of him this way. First thing, her heart wished to see this morning was the mischievous emerald-green eyes of her best friend, just like on the Sunday morning three weeks back. She slowly opened her eyes and felt the disappointment settling in her heart, for the reason that her eyes met the white ceiling of the room instead of the emerald green eyes of her best friend.

Hermione sighed with discontent. Taking the last whiff of Harry's scent in his pillow, she pulled herself out of the bed. She groaned as she realized that she was running late. Alarm clock on the nightstand was showing 7:45 AM, and she had to report at the Ministry by 8:30 AM. She walked towards the bathroom and after taking care of her morning rituals, she walked out of the room.

She found Harry in the kitchen. He had almost finished making the breakfast.

"Good morning," Hermione said walking into the kitchen.

Harry looked startled for a moment and then he smiled as his eyes fell on Hermione.

"Good morning," He replied as he put the pancakes in the plate.

"Breakfast is almost ready. Why don't…" Harry started, but Hermione interrupted him.

"Sorry Harry, but I can't stay for the breakfast. I have to report at the Ministry by 8:30." Hermione said apologetically.

"It's all right Hermione." Harry replied with a smile in an attempt to hide his disappointment.

Hermione found herself trapped in a catch-22 situation. After last night, she didn't want to leave Harry alone, but due to some urgent work, she had to go to Ministry as well.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Hermione asked tentatively, afraid of the answer she might get from him.

"I am feeling good, Hermione. You don't have to worry about me every second of your life." Harry said to Hermione, and chuckled, thinking that worrying about others, especially him, was one of her endearing and yet an annoying characteristic that she could not get rid of.

"Just shut up, Harry," Hermione chastised lightly, hitting him playfully on the shoulder.

"So, are you going to see Teddy today?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I was thinking of spending the whole day with him." Harry replied, as he moved to wash his hands in the washbasin on the other side of the kitchen. After wiping his hands with a towel, he turned back to look at Hermione, who was looking deep in thought.

Hermione looked at Harry realizing that he had stopped talking and was looking at her curiously. Suddenly a thought occurred in her mind.

"Why don't you bring Teddy to Leaky Cauldron? I'll join both of you there. We can have lunch together." Hermione said excitedly. She also wanted to meet Teddy. It'd been quite some time since the last time she met him.

"Sure, why not? Teddy would love to meet you." Harry replied with a smile and walked out of the kitchen, gesturing Hermione to follow him.

"I miss him too." Hermione replied as she walked out of the kitchen.

They walked into the living room and Harry sat on the couch while Hermione remained standing. Harry took her hand and pulled her next to him on the couch.

"What time would be appropriate for you?" Harry asked.

"Hmm…I think 1:30 would be appropriate. It will be the lunchtime at Ministry. What do you think?" Hermione asked.

"That would do." Harry agreed.

"Great," Hermione said excitedly, "Then, I'll meet you both at Leaky Cauldron at 1:30." She concluded. Harry merely nodded.

Hermione got up from the couch. "I should better go or I would get late." She said hastily and walked towards the entrance. Harry followed her.

"Bye Harry," Hermione said stepping out of the apartment.

"Bye," Harry said and closed the door as Hermione left.

After Hermione left, Harry went back to the living room and flooed to Andromeda, Teddy's grandmother, to ask if he could come over to meet his godson. After getting a happy approval from the other side, he went back to the kitchen and tried to eat some breakfast, but he wasn't feeling hungry. Finally, he gave up and breakfast vanished with a flick of his wand. Then, he walked out of the kitchen and made his way towards his bedroom. He took a quick shower, dressed up, and left the apartment to meet his favorite and the only godson, Teddy Lupin.

Teddy had been overjoyed to see Harry. He adored his godfather and loved to spend time with him. Firstly, Harry took him to Hogwarts. Teddy enjoyed the place and most of the Hogwarts staff loved him as well. Harry took him for a broom ride on the Quidditch pitch, and after roaming around the Hogwarts, Harry and Teddy went to Hogsmeade to have some fun time. There he took Teddy to Zonko's Joke Shop and Honeydukes Sweetshop, and for some strange reason, the Shrieking Shack fascinated Teddy very much. On the other hand, maybe not so strange, shack was made for his father after all.

Soon it was the noontime and Teddy wanted to visit Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, which suited Harry just fine as later they had to meet Hermione for lunch in Leaky Cauldron.

"Harry, Teddy" Fred said acknowledging Harry and Teddy's presence as they entered the shop.

"Hello Uncle Fred," Teddy said excitedly.

"And now I am already feeling old." Fred said dramatically putting both his hands on his chest. Teddy started laughing while Harry simply smiled at his friend's antics.

"Now Teddy, you should never bother an old man." Harry chided in a mock stern voice.

"Hey," Fred said indignantly, then he started laughing, and soon Harry and Teddy started laughing as well.

"Where's George?" Harry asked.

"He's in the lab." Fred said gesturing towards the backside of the shop, "Working on some new products,"

"So what brings you here?" Fred asked.

"I am spending the day with Teddy. Teddy loves your shop so we decided to make a visit here,." Harry answered while Teddy was busy looking around the shop.

"Fred, send Elena in the lab." George shouted from the back of the shop.

"Elena is busy." Fred shouted back making Harry chuckle and forcing Teddy cover his ears with both his hands.

"Sorry Teddy," George said apologetically, "Ever since Snape blasted his ear, he pretends that his hearing power is low and speaks as though if he's shouting." He added with a chuckle.

"You didn't attend the dinner at Burrow last Sunday and missed the whole show. Mum had invited Snape as well and you won't believe he actually came." Fred said in a laughing voice.

Harry didn't look very surprise. Since the war had ended his former potion teacher had changed a lot. He had even learned to smile, even though it looked like he was in pain.

"George sat next to him and kept talking to him the whole time he sat there, practically shouting in his ear." Fred continued.

Harry and Fred shared a good laugh at this as a bemused Teddy stared at his companions, trying to figure out why they were laughing.

"Well, I must say you have come on a right time." George said in a loud voice, coming from the back of the shop and stood next to his brother.

"We are developing some new products. We would like you to see them and if you want to offer help, we wouldn't mind testing them on you." He added with a chuckle.

Harry just rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but Elena, who worked at the shop for twins, interrupted him.

"Hey," Elena said as she came and stood next to George. Elena was a brunette with shoulder length hair, blue eyes, and an attractive slender body. She had started working for twins a couple of months back. She was still looking for a job when Hermione had introduced her to George at a Ministry Ball. George was completely smitten with her on the first sight and offered the job at the shop. "Elena, just the person I was looking for." George said in a soft voice, bringing his voice level back to normal.

"Awe! Somebody has a crush on a girl." Fred teased in a singsong voice. Harry was surprised seeing that George had turned red because of teasing, probably for the first time in his life.

"Oh shut up, Fred." Elena chided gently, even though her cheeks also had turned a light shade of pink. She turned her attention to Harry and Teddy.

"Hi Harry," She said nicely.

"Hey Elena, how are you doing?" Harry asked in a friendly voice.

"Oh, I am doing great. And, how's our little Teddy?" Elena said looking at Teddy who was looking back at her with indignation, his hair turning red in color, surely a sign of his bad mood.

"I am not little anymore. I am five year old now." Teddy said in a proud voice.

Four adults laughed at this. "I am so sorry, _big_ Teddy. Forgive my mistake." Elena said with an apologetic smile.

"Okay," Teddy said with a wide smile and reached for Elena. Elena quickly picked him in her arms, tickling him and making him laugh uncontrollably. She looked at Harry as Teddy settled comfortably in her arms.

"So, how's Hermione doing? I haven't seen her for quite some time now." Elena asked.

"She's doing fine. She has been promoted to the post of Deputy Head of her department." Harry said.

"That's great, Harry. I will go and see her this Sunday. Maybe I'll be able to convince her to throw a party to celebrate her promotion." Elena said with a chuckle.

They chatted for some time until Teddy got bored and insisted that he wanted to see rest of the shop.

"You know, why don't you guys show Harry our new products and I'll show Teddy around the shop." Elena suggested looking towards twins.

"Sure, why not." Fred replied without difficulty.

* * *

Harry checked his watch. It was close to 1:30. He decided to leave the shop with Teddy. Harry and twins made their way to front of the shop. Teddy was already there with Elena, who was holding something in her hand, showing it to an excited Teddy.

Teddy was excited to meet Hermione. After saying goodbye to twins and Elena, Harry and Teddy left the shop and walked towards Leaky Cauldron. There, they both sat on a table waiting for Hermione.

Only five minutes had passed, when Harry felt somebody tapping on his shoulder. He turned his face to look who it was.

"Hermione," Harry said with a wide smile. He got up from his seat and hugged his best friend. Hermione smiled and hugged him back.

"Well, I am impressed Mr. Potter, you have made it right on time." Hermione said amusedly as she took her seat on the round table. Harry tried to look offended, but then he simply laughed in return.

"Hey Teddy," Hermione said grinning at the young boy. She opened her arms and Teddy immediately jumped in her embrace. Hermione hugged him lovingly and settled him on her lap.

"Hello Herm-Own-Ninny," Teddy said looking pleased with himself. Hermione looked appalled, and then her face turned red eliciting a hearty laugh from Harry.

"Where did you learn this name?" Hermione asked trying to keep her voice down. Even though, she had a pretty good idea about who must have taught Teddy to call her Herm-Own-Ninny, she wanted to confirm her suspicions.

Teddy always had difficulty in pronouncing Hermione's name. Usually he called her Hermy. However, this time it was something that Hermione had heard from the Bulgarian seeker, Viktor Krum.

"Ron," Teddy answered innocently unaware of a fuming Herm-own-ninny, who was ready to unleash her wrath on her other best friend, Ronald Weasley.

"The next time I see him, I am going to turn him into a slug and fed him to Malfoy." Hermione muttered heatedly.

Harry started laughing remembering his second year when Ron was forced to vomit slugs from his mouth due to the malfunctioning of his broken wand. When he reminded Hermione of the incident, she too started laughing with him. Hermione narrated the whole incident to a bemused Teddy making him laugh nonstop. She even suggested Teddy to ask Ron about it whenever he would meet him next time.

While Hermione talked to Teddy about how he was doing with his studies and other things in his life, Harry simply sat there staring at them with a smile on his lips.

"What would you like to eat?" Harry interrupted after some time. Both Teddy and Hermione looked at Harry in surprise, remembering that they had a third companion with them.

After placing the order with Tom, the barman, Harry came back to the table where Hermione and Teddy were sitting.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Hermione asked as Harry sat in his chair.

"Better," Harry simply replied.

"So how it's going at work? You know, with your promotion and all other stuff," Harry asked changing the course of conversation. Hermione realized what he was doing, but let it go.

Teddy was sitting quietly and trying to understand what two of his most favorite adults were talking about, as they were looking serious.

"Last few weeks have been very hectic. As soon as Scamander comes back, I am going to take a short break from the work." Hermione said contemplatively.

Harry chuckled at her response. "What have you done to Hermione Granger? _Break_ word is not there in her vocabulary." he said in a laughing voice. He quickly shut up realizing that Hermione was looking at him with narrowed eyes. "However, a break would be good for you. Then, we can enjoy the free time together as I am also, you know, sort of on a vacation." He said in an attempt to cool down Hermione's temper.

Hermione just laughed, bringing forth a smile from her best friend in return.

"Are you on vacation?" Teddy asked, his wide innocent eyes staring at Harry. However, before Harry could answer, Tom brought their food on the table.

"Here's your order." Tom said as he started putting dishes on the table.

"Hey Tom, how are you?" Hermione asked with a sincere smile.

Tom smiled at her in return. "I am fine, Hermione. It's nice to have three of you here." He answered back politely, "Enjoy your meal." He said and then left to look after his other customers.

* * *

"I want to eat ice-cream." Teddy said in his childish voice as one of the waiters removed the empty dishes from the table.

Harry looked at Hermione. "How much time do you have before you have to return to the Ministry?" He asked.

Hermione checked the time. It showed 2:05 PM. She had to return to the Ministry by 2:30 PM.

"I still have some time." She replied, "Let's go to Florean's ice-cream parlour, he serves the best." Teddy nodded eagerly, agreeing with what Hermione said.

"Ok then, let's go." Harry said grinning at his best friend and godson.

After paying for the bill, three of them made their way to Diagon , Hermione, and Teddy were sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, eating their ice creams and chatting in general, most of their talk revolved around Teddy and Hogwarts. Harry was sitting on one side and Teddy and Hermione were sitting in front of him. They were busy talking when somebody interrupted them.

"Hi Hermione," a soft voice spoke from behind Harry. Harry stiffened recognizing the voice. Shocked expression on Hermione's face made it very much clear that it was the same person, Harry was thinking about.

"Hi Ginny," Hermione said trying to sound cheerful and stood up to greet her friend. Harry also stood up and turned around to face Ginny.

"Hi Harry," Ginny said tentatively. "Hi," Harry replied with an unreadable expression on his face. It was the first time he was meeting her, ever since the day he had confessed his feelings to her and she had said _no_ to him.

Atmosphere was getting uncomfortable. Hermione stepped forward and stood close to Harry. She understood what he must have been feeling. It was not easy to talk to the person for whom you had unrequited feelings. Without thinking, she took Harry's hand in her own and squeezed it for reassuring him that he was not alone. She felt Harry squeezing her hand in return.

Ginny's eyes fell on their joined hands. Something flashed in her eyes, her posture faltered slightly, but she quickly recovered bringing a charming smile on her lips.

"You are having a free day?" She asked Hermione.

"Oh no, it's lunch time at Ministry right now. I have to go back by 2:30." Hermione explained. Ginny nodded. She opened her mouth to speak, and just then, Roger Davies decided to join them.

"Here you are, sweetheart. I have been looking for you all over the place." He said to Ginny and wrapped his left arm around her shoulder.

"Hi Harry, Hermione, it's nice to see you guys." Roger said cheerfully extending his free hand towards Harry for a shake.

Harry shook his hand and replied with a smile, "It's nice to see you too, Roger."

"Same here," Hermione said shaking Roger's hand.

Four of them looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

"Would you like to join us?" Harry asked Ginny and her boyfriend, breaking the uncomfortable silence between four of them. However, before Ginny could reply Roger started speaking.

"Thanks for the offer, Harry, but we have to go somewhere else. I hope you don't mind." Roger replied with an apologetic smile.

Ginny was feeling more and more anxious as Harry didn't reply immediately.

"Don't worry about it." Harry replied genuinely. Hermione sighed in relief observing that Harry had his emotions under control.

"Well darling, we better get going or we would be late." Roger said looking at his girlfriend.

"Sure." Ginny replied with a smile.

Harry and Hermione said their goodbyes as Roger and Ginny left. They both stood in silence staring at the retreating back of Ginny and Roger, and oblivious to all the tension and awkward circumstances taking place between the adults, little Teddy continued eating and savoring the taste of his favorite chocolate flavored ice-cream with a dreamy expression on his face.

* * *

**Author's note: - So what do you think of this chapter? Please tell me through your REVIEWS.**


	6. Time For A Get Together

**Author's note**: - **Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: - I don't own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.**

* * *

**Time For A Get-Together**

_They both stood in silence staring at the retreating back of Ginny and Roger, and oblivious to all the tension and awkward circumstances taking place between the adults, little Teddy continued eating and savoring the taste of his favorite chocolate flavored ice-cream with a dreamy expression on his face. _

* * *

Hermione had discussed with Ron about when that they could put their plan in action. They had decided the upcoming Friday night would be appropriate.

Hermione hadn't told Ron the real reason for Harry's withdrawal from his friends and Weasley family. Only thing she told him was that Harry was upset because of his temporary suspension from the Auror program.

Two weeks after Hermione had lunch with Harry and Teddy, Ron had come to her office one evening. The moment he had entered her office he had started complaining about Harry's behavior, about how Harry had turned down his offer for _best boys-friends time _at least thrice_, _that's how Ron put it.

However, as Ron didn't know the real reason, so it took some time for Hermione to calm him down.

Finally, when Ron asked her why Harry was behaving the way he was, she told him about his suspension. Ron told her that she should go and talk some sense in Harry.

Hermione knew that for last two weeks, Harry had been spending his time either with Teddy or cooped up in his apartment. He had stopped drinking at Hermione's insistence, but he was still brooding. At times Hermione felt like Harry was hiding something from her and was avoiding her on purpose.

Hermione was getting tired of his behavior. Like Ron, she too had tried to get Harry go out with her for some fun time, but he always refused, not directly, but did nonetheless.

That was when Hermione and Ron had come up with a plan to get Harry out of his depressing shell. They had planned a get-together just for three of them at a newly opened magical pub in London.

Their plan was simple. They were going to barge in Harry's apartment and drag him to the pub with them.

* * *

"Ready?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, let's do it." Hermione replied with determination. Ron simply nodded.

It was Friday night, and Hermione and Ron had come to Harry's apartment to take him with them.

Ron pressed the doorbell and they both waited for Harry to open the door. After a couple of minutes, door opened and a very tired looking Harry was standing on other side of the door.

"Hey Harry," Ron said cheerfully.

"Ron, Hermione, what you both are doing here?" Harry asked looking surprised.

"Can we come in?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah sure," Harry said looking a bit uncertain. He stepped aside to let Ron and Hermione in.

Harry closed the door and turned around to look at his best friends.

Before Harry could ask anything, Ron spoke, "Get ready,"

"Why?" Harry asked looking puzzled.

"We are going out." Hermione answered.

"Where?" Harry asked looking at Hermione and Ron.

"We'll tell you later, but first, you get ready." Ron said leaving no place for argument.

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione interrupted him.

"You're just wasting your time, Harry. Tonight you have to come out with us. That's it. Now hurry up." Hermione said in a strict voice.

"She's right mate. Either you are going to come with your own freewill or we are going to force you. The end result will be the same in both the situations, you are coming with us." Ron said.

"Is it really necessary?" Harry asked dejectedly.

"YES!" Both Ron and Hermione shouted in unison.

"Okay, okay, I got it. There's no need to shout at me." Harry said rushing towards his bedroom.

After 15 minutes, Harry came out of his bedroom looking clean and fresh. He was wearing a white button down shirt, blue jeans, and a brown jacket.

"Let's go." Ron said and three of them left the apartment.

* * *

Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the pub. It was large and adorned with flashlights. There was a dance floor where many couples were dancing on some slow music.

"What are we doing here?" Harry asked.

"We are having a get together, for just three of us." Ron replied looking around the pub in search of an empty table.

Just then, a leggy brunette waitress wearing a skimpy black dress approached them.

"What can I do for you?" She asked in a seductive voice, looking at Ron and Harry and completely ignoring Hermione. Brunette looked at Harry and then her eyes shifted towards his forehead and an odd glint appeared in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but Hermione cut her off.

"We want a table where we can have some privacy from the prying crowd and where nobody would disturb us." Hermione said frostily.

Waitress looked annoyed at the interruption and glanced at Hermione looking at her up and down.

"Right, this way," Waitress said. She turned around and started walking, gesturing the three new customers to follow her.

She led them further inside the pub and to a small private booth away from the dance floor. Most of the crowd at the pub was gathered around the bar and the dance floor. So, the place where the trio were sitting was quite good for those who wanted privacy.

Three of them sat down. Harry and Hermione sat on one side and Ron sat in front of them. Waitress left, telling them that their server for the evening will arrive on their table in a moment.

"Why are we here?" Harry asked again

Hermione shared a look with Ron and they both rolled their eyes together.

"Don't roll your eyes at me." He said looking a little annoyed with his best friends.

"We are here, because you have been acting like a jerk for last couple of weeks." Ron explained in a way as though if talking to a five-year-old boy.

"Yeah," Hermione nodded agreeing with Ron.

"Today, we have brought you here, so that you can enjoy the night instead of sulking around at your apartment." Hermione said.

Harry frowned at what his best friends said.

"I was not sulking." Harry grumbled.

"Sure, you could have fooled me." Ron retorted.

Harry gave an irritated look to the two conspirators and then he looked away from them, lost in his thoughts.

Ron once again opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione silenced him with a look.

After sometime, a redhead girl came to their table. She was wearing the dress similar to the black dress sported by brown-haired waitress, who led them to the table, was wearing.

She had long and straight red hair tied in a loose ponytail, light brown eyes, and a slender figure. She smiled suggestively at Harry as she arrived at their table.

Harry simply sighed and looked away from the girl, and concentrated on Hermione, who was looking back at him worriedly.

"I am all right." He mouthed. Hermione squeezed Harry's hand, and gave a small smile.

"So what would you like to drink?" Waitress asked looking at Trio.

"I'll have Butterbeer." Hermione said.

"Oh come on, Hermione try something stronger." Ron teased.

Hermione shook her head. "No way," She said remembering the fiasco she had made of herself last year, at the marriage anniversary Ron's parents, Arthur and Molly Weasley.

"You know, we'll be here to catch you in case you decide to climb on the table, sing like a banshee, and then fall down on your arse." Harry whispered in Hermione's ear, trying very hard to suppress his laughter.

"Why you little…" Hermione hit a little hard Harry's arm while turning red due to embarrassment.

"What did I miss?" Ron asked leaning closer to Harry and Hermione.

"Your mum and dad's anniversary party, last year," Harry didn't need to say anything else as Ron burst out laughing.

"Ronald Weasley, you say anything about that incident and I'll turn you into a giant slug." Hermione threatened looking at her best friend with narrowed eyes.

Ron immediately shut his mouth.

"I am waiting." Waitress interrupted.

"Oh yeah, sorry," Harry said, "I'll have Fireshisky. Ron, what about you?" He asked Ron.

"I'll also take Firewhisky." Ron said.

"Very well, I'll be back in a couple of minutes with your drinks." Waitress said and before leaving, she gave on last look at Harry, who didn't notice it.

"That girl was just so obvious, definitely a star struck fan girl." Hermione mumbled. Both Ron and Harry simply nodded their head getting along with what Hermione said and sharing a private laugh when Hermione wasn't looking.

"Ok Hermione, now that you have mentioned about slugs, why did you tell Teddy about my slug vomiting incident?" Ron grumbled, "First of all he found it very funny that somebody could vomit slugs out of their mouth, and then he kept asking how I was able to contain that many slugs in my stomach. I mean he practically asked me whether I eat slugs."

By the time Ron finished, Hermione's body was shaking with silent laughter. She patted Ron's arm. "Teddy is just a curious child, Ron. But I also want to know about it. So spill it out, how did you manage to contain slugs in your stomach."

Ron jerked away his hand from Hermione. "You are a double-crossing best friend." He moaned getting up from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked trying to hide his amusement.

"I need to use the loo. I'll be back in a few minutes." He said and left after throwing a last glare towards Hermione's direction who was still shaking with laughter.

"Well, that was fun." Harry said looking at Hermione, making both of them loose themselves in another round of hearty laughs.

"Hermione, did you tell Ron about Ginny?" Harry asked tentatively, once their laughter settled down.

"Of course not, Harry." Hermione said squeezing Harry's hand.

Harry smiled with relief and squeezed her hand in return.

* * *

After few minutes, the redhead waitress came back with their drinks. She put the glasses filled with their respective drinks on the table and left without giving another glance towards Harry and Hermione.

As waitress left, Ron joined them. Three of them picked their glasses and said, "CHEERS!"

"You know, it's good, but not as good as Madam Rosmerta's Firewhisky." Ron said taking a sip of his drink.

"Well, she's got the best." Harry said agreeing with Ron.

"True," Hermione added taking a swig of her drink.

"You know, I would like to toast this sip to Teddy." Hermione said with an amused smile as she raised her glass and took a large sip of her drink.

Harry and Ron both stared at Hermione as though if she had grown a second head.

"What? I am in a good mood today." Hermione said defending herself.

Harry laughed heartily as Ron gave an annoyed look to Hermione.

"Why did you toast to Teddy?" He complained.

Hermione simply shrugged her shoulders in return and grinned mischievously.

"Fine, I would like to toast to," Ron thought for a moment, "Yes, Cormac Maclaggen." He finished with a smug smile and took a large swig from his glass.

Hermione scowled at him but refrained herself from saying anything.

"What about you Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Umm…I would like to toast to Lockhart." Harry said in a laughing voice.

Three of them burst out laughing and Hermione turned red as well, remembering her fascination with their former defense teacher.

Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer.

"Don't be embarrassed Hermione. It can happen with anyone, after all you were just a little _fan girl_." He said with an impish grin.

Hermione pushed him away. "Git," She muttered, making Harry laugh with gusto.

Hermione looked at Ron as Harry continued to laugh. They both shared a smile looking at their cheerful best friend. Their plan had worked well.

* * *

Three of them continued their toasting until first round of their drinks was finished.

"I'll go and get more drinks." Ron said getting up.

"No, I don't want to drink anymore. One mug of Butterbeer is more than enough for me." Hermione said.

"Aw, come on, Hermione. If you don't drink, how would we continue toasting?" Ron said with a pout.

Harry laughed at Ron's expression.

"He's right Hermione, for once let yourself go." Harry said.

"But you know I can't hold my liquor." Hermione said looking troubled, "Even Butterbeer makes me feel tipsy."

"Don't worry, Hermione. We'll make sure you reach your apartment in one piece and that too without embarrassing yourself." Ron contributed.

"Sure, and who'll make sure you reach your place in one piece." Hermione sarcastically, looking at Ron.

"Ah, don't worry. I'll make sure you both reach your respective places safely." Harry interjected with a serious expression on his face, although a small smile was threatening to come over his lips.

"Fine, but only Butterbeer, nothing else," Hermione warned Ron.

"Yes mam," He said giving a mock salute to Hermione. His eyes met Harry's just for a brief moment. He gave him a mischievous smile and left. Harry knew what that smile meant, Ron was definitely up to something.

* * *

Ron came back after sometime with a large bottle of Butterbeer and two large bottles of Firewhisky. He handed the bottle of Butterbeer to Hermione and for once, she didn't object. Then Ron gave one bottle of Firewhisky to Harry and kept another bottle for himself.

"Now pour yourself a drink from your bottles and then let's continue toasting and I have already paid for our bill." Ron said filling his glass with Firewhisky.

Harry and Hermione shared a look, but didn't say anything. They knew how much it meant for Ron to pay for his best friends, as lack of money had always been an unpleasant topic for him during their school days.

They once again started their toasting game. After her first toast when Hermione took a sip of her drink, it tasted a little different from the normal Butterbeer. However, she didn't pay much attention to it as Ron started toasting.

Three of them toasted to many things like Quidditch, Divination, library, light reading, Hogwarts, friends, family, the adventures they had together at school and after school, house elves, Sirius, Dumbledore, Aragog (which made Ron shudder with fear), Fluffy, Norbert, sorting hat, Snape's greasy hair, Molly Weasley's cooking, mismatched socks, and many more things. Harry even toasted to his Cousin Dudley's pigtail that Hagrid had conjured with his umbrella when he had come to pick Harry on his 11th birthday.

Hermione was starting to feel intoxicated after each round of toasting. By the time she had drained more than half of the bottle of Butterbeer, she was feeling completely drunk. She was finding it extremely difficult to concentrate on what was going around her. At some point, she had lost the track of the toasting game she was playing with her two best friends. She had no idea, what her best friends were toasting to. Whenever it was her turn to toast, Harry would nudge her lightly and she would just mumble some incoherent words and gulp down her drink.

"Hermione," Harry nudged her again.

"Huh?" She said feeling disoriented. She looked at Harry closely. He was looking amused as he said something to her.

"It's your turn," Harry repeated realizing that Hermione hadn't heard a word he was saying earlier.

"Myyy turrrnnn," Hermione slurred.

"Yessssy Missy Herm-own-ninny," Ron said giggling loudly and emptied his half-filled glass at once, and then his head fell on the table and he started snoring loudly. It looked like Harry was the only one sober enough to take his two inebriated best friends home. He had avoided drinking too much of the Firewhisky, as he knew from the start that he was going to be the only one who would remain sober in the end. Also the way he had been drinking for last couple of weeks, it had increased his tolerance level towards the strong alcoholic drinks.

He also knew that Ron had spiked Hermione's Butterbeer with Firewhisky. By the time, he had realized this, it was too late, and Hermione was already drunk by then.

Harry sighed and looked at Hermione. She was looking at her empty glass, trying to figure out something.

He cupped her face and turned her face away from the empty glass and towards him. Hermione looked at him with glazed look in her eyes.

"Hermione, listen to me carefully," Harry said slowly so that Hermione could get what he was saying. Hermione just nodded.

Taking it as a sign that Hermione was listening to him, Harry continued,

"I am taking Ron home. You'll stay here. Don't go anywhere; I'll be back in a minute. Okay?" He said. Hermione nodded slowly, her eyes wide.

"Okeee," Hermione said childishly.

Harry grabbed Ron's hand and with the help of his wand, he managed to take Ron to the entrance of the club. Once they were outside Harry apparated himself and Ron to Ron's place where he lived with his girlfriend. After leaving Ron with his girlfriend, Jessica, Harry quickly apprated back to the pub.

When he entered the pub, he saw that a little crowd was gathered around the bar where Hermione was standing on the counter of the bar, holding a bottle in her hand like a microphone, and singing a muggle song in a high-pitched voice and boy, she was singing horrible.

She didn't seem aware of people pointing at her and laughing at her horrible display of singing. She just continued to sing her song, and then she started moving her body, making Harry realize that it was time to remove her from the bar before the staff threw her out of the pub.

He made his way through people standing around the bar and reached to Hermione.

"Hermione," He called tugging at her hand.

Hermione stopped singing and looked down. She smiled widely when she realized that it was Harry.

"Hawwy," She said in a drunken voice. She offered her hand for him to climb on the counter. However, instead of climbing on the counter, Harry pulled Hermione down. He scooped her in his arms and made his way through the dispersing crowd and towards the entrance of the pub. Hermione simply closed her eyes and rested her head on Harry's shoulder.

Once they were out of the pub, Harry walked a little away from the pub and put Hermione down. Hermione started swaying due to her intoxicated state. Harry just caught her in time before she hit the street.

"Hermione, I am going to apprate both of use to your apartment." Harry said leading Hermione towards an empty alley adjacent to the pub.

Hermione pulled her hand back and shook her head vigorously.

"I wanna walk." She said, her eyes half-closed.

"Hermione, your apartment is far-off from here." Harry tried to explain.

"I don't know. I want to walk." Hermione said stubbornly and started walking leaving a befuddled Harry behind.

Harry just rolled his eyes and jogged behind her. He grabbed her hand and stopped her from going any further.

"Leave me," Hermione grumbled, trying to free her hand from Harry's firm grasp, but with no avail.

She looked at Harry with a cloudy look in her eyes and gasped loudly.

"Harry, why didn't you tell me that you have a twin brother?" Hermione asked leaning into the empty space next to Harry as though if somebody was standing there.

Harry suppressed a smile and spoke,

"I don't have a twin, Hermione. You are just seeing the double because you are drunk." He elucidated amusedly.

"I am drunk?" She said and contemplated for a moment, "No, I am not drunk." She concluded.

"But you are." Harry said as a smile appeared on his lips.

"Oh," Hermione said.

"So will you carry me?" She asked all of a sudden.

"What?" asked a bewildered Harry.

"Carry me," Hermione said as though if it was obvious, "You know I am drunk, so I can't walk straight. But as we are walking to my flat, you should carry me." She said as she reached out for Harry, wrapped her arms around his neck, and rested her head in the crook between his neck and shoulder.

For a moment, Harry just stood there looking stunned. Then he got relaxed and wrapped an arm around Hermione. He could feel her warm breath on his neck.

"Hermione," Harry called checking whether she had fallen asleep or not.

"Hmm…" Hermione replied sleepily, raising her head and looking at Harry.

Hermione felt entranced looking into emerald green eyes of her best friend.

Drinking had loosened her up a bit. She cupped Harry's cheek and looked into his eyes intensely.

"You know, your eyes are gorgeous." Hermione whispered. Her face was very close to Harry's face. Regardless of being smashed, she could feel the deep-rooted emotions welling up in her heart.

Harry's eyes widened with surprise. He just stood there motionless and stared back into the chocolate brown eyes of his best friend.

Hermione blinked once and gave a sad smile to Harry, and before Harry could realize what was happening, Hermione pressed her lips against his lips.

* * *

**Author's note****: - Please REVIEW and tell me what you think.**


	7. Have I Ruined It Completely?

**Author's note****: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.**

**Disclaimer****: - I don't own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.**

* * *

**Have I Ruined It Completely?**

Hermione had last seen Harry almost three months back. She had been avoiding him since the night their friendship was ruined. It was her fault after all, which led to such circumstances.

Why did the hell she kiss him? Fine, she was drunk, but that was no excuse for what she did. She should not have gotten drunk in the first place, but then, she didn't know that her drink was spiked. It was all Ron's fault that she was drunk and kissed Harry. She hadn't seen Ron either since the night of get-together as he was on a trip with his team.

She had controlled her feelings for her best friend for last several years, then why she had to go ahead and do what she should not have done at all.

Now because of Ron's stupidity and loss of her self-control, everything was messed up; a friendship of ten years was completely ruined, probably beyond repair.

Even though she was afraid that Harry was angry with her because she had kissed him and he would never speak to her ever again, there was another reason for her to remember that night. She remembered that night not just, because she had kissed Harry for the first time, letting go of all her inhibitions, but also because Harry had kissed her back.

Despite being a bad drinker, Hermione still remembered that night vividly. After all, it was a night never meant to be forgotten, at least not for her.

_Hermione blinked once and gave a sad smile to Harry, and before Harry could realize what was happening, Hermione pressed her lips against his lips._

_She could feel her hands moving on their own accord and wrapping them around Harry's neck. She was feeling intoxicated, not because of the spiked drinks, but because of the kiss she was sharing with her best friend, her unrequited love._

_Maybe 'sharing' was not the right word, as he was not kissing her back, a fact, which took some time for Hermione to realize due to her drunken state._

_She realized that Harry was not moving at all. He hadn't kissed her back, but then he hadn't pushed her away either. Maybe he was also drunk, so he didn't know what was happening. But that means she was taking advantage of her best friend._

_Hermione thought about pulling back. However, she was unable to turn that thought into action, when she felt Harry's hand moving on her back, pulling her closer and his lips moving against hers, slowly, tenderly._

_At that moment, the logical part of Hermione's brain had shut down itself, and the part, which had suppressed her feelings for her best friend for last several years, took over her mind, heart, and body._

_Only thing she could feel was Harry kissing her, his lips claiming hers as his own._

_They continued kissing each other right there on the street outside the pub, unaware if anyone was looking at them._

_Suddenly Hermione felt as though if her body had been forced through a very tight rubber tube. As soon as the sensation of being squeezed lifted over her senses, Hermione gasped and stumbled backwards from Harry. She tried to catch her breath and looked at Harry. Love and lust overrode her senses, looking at Harry's intense eyes trained upon her._

_Hermione didn't even bother looking around where she was. She just without thinking for another second flung herself at Harry, crushing his lips with her own. Nothing mattered except the man who was kissing her right now. No logics, no explanations, and no guilt trips, nothing was there on Hermione's mind except the delicious pleasure coursing through her body and warmth settling into her heart. _

_For that one precious moment, she wanted to let herself think that Harry loved her back and that's why he was kissing her back, and not because he was not in a right state of mind._

_That particular though struck Hermione hard. Despite the lingering effects of alcohol, Hermione could think a little clearly. She realized that Harry was probably kissing her back thinking about Ginny. Even though he was not as drunk as she was, still there was a possibility that his mind was fogged by the alcohol he already had in his system. And the whole kissing situation was making his thoughts out of control. What if he was kissing her under the delusion that he was kissing Ginny?_

_This thought fractured something inside her as she pulled back from Harry, looking at him with clouded eyes. She was still in his arms, her face just inches away from his._

_Her head was spinning and her legs were turning weak. Harry tightened his grip on her before her legs gave up._

_Hermione rested her head on his firm chest, and closed her eyes. She felt safe in his arms, like nothing could hurt her, not even herself. _

_Then unintentionally, and unwillingly those three words escaped her mouth that she remembered to be her last words of that night._

_"I love you." She said and then everything was black and all she could remember was rigid body of her best friend, who was still holding her in his arms as her mind slipped into nothingness._

_Next morning when she got up, she found herself at her apartment and in her bedroom. Her head was throbbing badly, and she felt like throwing up. She quickly made her way to the bathroom and after emptying whatever her stomach was holding from the previous night, she came back to her room and laid down on her bed._

_Then she remembered what had happened last night. She was finding it very difficult to breath. She staggered out of the room hoping that Harry would be in the kitchen preparing breakfast for her, like he had done so many times before. But he was not there in her apartment. She was all alone._

_When she came back to her room, she found a note on her nightstand beside her bed, which she hadn't noticed earlier._

_'See you later.' Only those three words were written across it. Nothing else was written on it and now Hermione had no idea what was going through Harry's mind when he wrote that note._

Since then Hermione had spend many nights crying in her bed.

At first, she didn't have the courage to face him. She felt ashamed of her action. She had not only kissed him, but confessed her love for him as well. The one most protected secret of her life was revealed and she had no idea what to do now.

As the days passed, Hermione just convinced herself that Harry had only kissed her back because he was thinking about Ginny and hadn't realized that he was kissing his best friend.

This thought made her feel more miserable than anything had ever before. She just wanted to kill herself for taking advantage of Harry during his vulnerable state.

While Hermione didn't contact Harry, Harry didn't made any effort to contact her in return, which made Hermione feel down in the dumps.

So after agonizing herself for few weeks, Hermione decided to apologize to Harry for her out of line behavior. She was missing him a lot.

She wrote an apology letter to Harry, hoping that he would forgive her. However, that letter was still hidden in the chest of the desk in her office at the Ministry; she just couldn't bring herself to send that letter to Harry.

* * *

"Hermione, are you alright?" Annie asked worriedly. She was Hermione's friend and personal secretary. She was a petite blonde-haired woman with light brown eyes.

"Huh? Oh yes, I am alright." Hermione said, mustering a small smile to appease the worries of her friend.

However, looking at Annie, it didn't seem like she believed her words.

Hermione was in her office at the Ministry, trying to concentrate on her work. However, she was feeling very tired and was finding it very difficult not to think about Harry.

Harry was back to his Auror training as his suspension period was over.

"Fine, nothing is right in my life right now." Hermione finally gave in. She desperately needed to talk to someone and Annie was perfect candidate for this. She was three years older than Hermione and had recently joined the Ministry as Hermione's personal secretary. But Hermione knew her before she had joined the Ministry and they had been sharing a strong friendship for last two years. Annie was a very good listener and knew about Hermione's feelings for Harry.

"So what happened?" Annie asked.

"I kissed Harry." Hermione grumbled.

Annie looked surprised and elated. "Finally," She said grinning widely.

Hermione snorted at her reaction. "I was drunk. I kissed him and confessed my love for him. It happened around three months back and I haven't seen him since then." She said feeling sad.

Annie looked confused. "Why not?" She asked.

"Annie, Harry loves Ginny. And then I go ahead and kiss him. Do you really think he would want to see me after that?" Hermione asked as tears welled up in her eyes, "I have completely ruined my friendship with him."

Then Hermione told her what happened the night she had kissed Harry and how she had found herself alone in her bed next morning.

Annie pulled Hermione out of her chair and held her in her arms as she cried her heart out.

"I…I don't know what to do. What will I do if he decides that he doesn't want me as his friend anymore?" Hermione asked pulling back from her friend.

Annie wiped away tears from Hermione's face.

"Hermione, Harry will not break his friendship with you just because you kissed him. You are too much important to him. I have seen it whenever he comes here to meet you." Annie said in a soothing voice, conjuring a glass of water for Hermione. Hermione drank the water greedily.

Annie checked her watch and spoke.

"You know, it's time to close the office. Why don't you go and see Harry, and talk to him. He would also be about to leave for his home. Both of you can go together." She said encouragingly.

"No, I can't do that. What if he asks me to leave him alone?" Hermione said, dejected.

"Well, you won't know about it, until you go and see him." Annie snapped.

"Now just go and talk to him, and I won't take no for an answer." Annie said as Hermione opened her mouth to protest. She started pushing Hermione towards the door.

"Ok. Ok. I am going. There's no need for you to throw me out of my office." Hermione said steadying herself. Annie just laughed at her.

Hermione packed her things in her office bag, left the office, and reluctantly moved towards the lift. At that moment, she didn't want to meet Harry. She had no idea what would she say to him.

When she arrived at the Auror's department, it looked like Aurors were working frantically on something important. They all were busy and everyone was looking very serious. It didn't look like anyone of them was planning to leave. However, Harry was nowhere to be seen.

Hermione turned to leave, but as soon as a young Auror trainee noticed her, he came rushing towards her.

"Hello Ms. Granger," Dennis Creevey said calling Hermione from behind.

Hermione turned around to see who it was.

"Oh, hello, Dennis, and please call me Hermione." Hermione replied with a kind smile.

Dennis just nodded and smiled timidly.

"Where's Harry, Dennis?" Hermione asked.

Dennis looked at the Aurors behind him, and taking Hermione's hand, he led her out of the department and in the empty hallway.

"A team of Aurors has been sent on a mission. Harry wasn't on the team, but he insisted to go with them." Dennis said, "Sorry, I can't tell you anything else about the mission. It's classified."

"It's alright, Dennis and thank you." Hermione replied a little distractedly.

Then she left the Ministry.

* * *

It was 10 PM. Hermione was feeling anxious, pacing back and forth in the living room of her apartment. Harry had gone onto a mission. And like Dennis mentioned, it was a top-secret mission, so definitely it was bound to be dangerous as well.

She knew once Harry's training would be over, he would have to go on such missions on regular basis. Being a trainee, he was rarely sent on highly dangerous missions and it was one of those rare times. But why had he insisted to go with them. She just couldn't comprehend what really compelled Harry to do this. She couldn't help but worry about him.

She was just so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize that somebody had rung the doorbell. When the doorbell was pressed for the second time, Hermione pulled out of her thoughts. She walked towards the front door and saw through the peephole.

She immediately opened the door. Harry Potter was standing on other side of the door.

He was looking very tired and pale. His eyes were blood-shot and lines of distress were visible on his face. He looked like he was going to fall apart almost immediately.

Without saying anything, Hermione grabbed his hand, pulled him inside, and closed the door.

Harry said nothing, just stared at Hermione with haunted eyes.

All of a sudden, Harry hugged Hermione, clinging to her tightly. Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry and led him towards the couch.

As Harry sat on the couch, he pulled Hermione on his lap, hugging her tightly, burying his head between her neck and shoulder.

Hermione didn't ask anything as she felt his body trembling in her arms. She just held him to her, trying to comfort him as best as she could.

Hermione didn't know how long they sat there just like that. Her heart broke looking at Harry's suffering.

Harry had stopped trembling, but didn't let her go. He just held her securely as though if she was the most essential element for his survival, which was probably true, not that Harry knew that.

After what felt like ages, Harry pulled back and took a deep breath. Looking at his face, Hermione knew he was ready to tell what was bothering him. She guessed it had something to do with the mission.

"Nevi…Neville is in St. Mungo. He was injured badly during the mission." Harry answered the unasked question, "He was hit with the curse, aimed for me."

Hermione was shocked at this. Of course, Harry would be distraught at this. Neville was after all a very good friend of trio.

"Oh Harry," Hermione said in a soft voice kissing his forehead.

"It was all my fault." Harry continued looking into Hermione's eyes, "I wasn't careful enough, or else Neville would have been safe." He took a deep breath.

He told Hermione that some of the old death eaters including Dolohov, Avery, Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Jugson and Mulciber were sighted in Bristol. They had managed to evade the capture after Voldemort fell during the final battle at Hogwarts and had been laying low for last couple of years. MLE's secret informers had found out about their location in Bristol and then a team was sent to capture them.

For last one year those death eaters were training some young pureblood witches and wizards, who still believed in pureblood supremacy, gathered from across the Europe.

When mission was over and almost everyone was captured, Harry hadn't realized that Mulciber was about to attack him from behind, Neville moved Harry just in time, and instead of Harry, he was hit with some unknown spell.

"Neville was bleeding profusely and was convulsing due to horrible pain, and now he is in coma. Healers at St. Mungo managed to stop the bleeding and shaking, to some extent, but they are unable to identify the spell he was hit with." Harry said, hiccupping.

"I…I don't know what to do Hermione. People I care about, they always get in the harm's way because of me." He said looking helpless, "If it hadn't been for me, Mum, dad, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Dumbledore, they all would have been alive right now. I wish I was never born."

"Harry!" Hermione said in a shocked voice.

"Don't you dare say that, ever again." She said angrily.

Harry just stared at Hermione, looking vulnerable. Hermione closed her eyes for a second, trying to control her urge to shout at her best friend.

She needed to be strong for Harry. She needed to make him see that he was wrong, that all those people gave away their lives because they loved him and that they would have never done it differently, have they been given the choice to change the past.

Hermione cupped Harry's face with both her hands, lightly wiping away the tears with her thumbs.

"Harry, first thing, it's not your fault that Neville was hit with that curse. He chose to save you. It was his choice. And all those people you mentioned, they died to save you, because they loved you. They all made a choice, just like you decided to give up your life during the final battle, so that everyone else could live."

Harry opened his mouth to protest and Hermione put a finger on his lips to silence him. "You know I am right." She whispered, removing her finger from his lips.

They were so close that Hermione could feel his warm breath on her lips, but she didn't dare to look away from his eyes, which now didn't look haunted, but a shade of depression was still prevailing.

She had this overwhelming urge to do something, anything, to take away pain from Harry's eyes. She wanted him to forget all his suffering even if just for a second.

She wanted to do something reckless, something she had never done before, something that would make Harry stop thinking about everyone else in the world, except her.

Hermione focused back on Harry, who was looking at her with an unreadable look on his face. His eyes had turned into dark shade of green, almost black.

Suddenly Hermione realized how reckless she could be. She crushed her lips to Harry's, and to her surprise, Harry kissed her back immediately as though if he was just waiting for this to happen.

Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry's neck as he shifted her slightly so that she was straddling him. She felt his fingers on her lower back as his hand slipped inside her pajama top.

Her blood was boiling with an intense desire, something she had never felt before. She was feeling an aching emptiness inside her and wanted Harry to fill that empty space. She didn't know what it was, but she could sense something building up inside her, begging for a release. She felt Harry's lips moving to her neck, making her head fall back, giving him access to her exposed skin.

With a loud moan, Hermione pulled back from Harry and looked in his lust-filled eyes. "I want you." She whispered throatily.

Harry didn't say anything, he just pulled Hermione back into a passionate kiss. Without breaking their kiss, he stood up from the couch lifting Hermione along with him. Hermione immediately wrapped her legs around his waist.

As Harry moved them towards Hermione's bedroom, their kisses grew more passionate. Once inside the room, Harry closed the door with his leg and walking to the bed, he gently put Hermione down on the bed in a sitting position.

He sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Hermione with eyes clouded with passion. Hermione shivered in anticipation as Harry grabbed her from the back of her neck and pulled her closer to him. He stared into her eyes, giving her time to pull back, and when she didn't pull back, he kissed her with such passion that she almost forgot where she was. Soon their clothes were lying on the floor, with Harry lying on top of Hermione in the bed.

Then, they started their journey to the paradise of everlasting pleasure they were going to remember for the rest of their lives.

* * *

Hermione woke up with a contented smile on her face as she reached out for Harry, who was sleeping next to her last night, only to find an empty space.

Hermione immediately brought herself into sitting position, covering her naked body with coverlet and looked around frantically. But she was alone in the room. She checked her alarm clock, which showed 5:30 AM.

"Harry," She called out. However, there was no response. Hermione wrapped the coverlet around her and got out of the bed. She walked towards the bathroom to check if Harry was there, but it was empty. Fear was settling into her heart. She put on her clothes from the last night and walked out of the room. After searching around in her apartment, she realized that Harry was not there.

She didn't know what to do. She was feeling vulnerable and was finding it very difficult to stand on her own. She just looked around hoping that Harry was hiding in some corner under his invisibility cloak and was just teasing her.

Hermione wrapped her arms around her body and waited for Harry to make an appearance. But as time ticked away, Hermione was feeling more and more scared. She knew it was a hopeless waiting.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't believe Harry had left her alone, especially after what happened last night. She just walked back to her room and threw herself on her bed. Her whole body started shaking as she cried silently, remembering the last night.

She didn't know how long she cried, but by the time tears stopped surging in her eyes, she was completely drained, both emotionally and physically.

After some time she pulled herself out of the bed. She took a quick shower, got ready and left for the Ministry.

* * *

"Hey Hermione, this came for you." Annie said entering into the office with a small white envelope in her hand, "A Ministry owl dropped it on my desk." She said handing over the envelope to Hermione.

It was close to lunchtime and Hermione had been working in her office incessantly ever since she had entered in her office that morning.

Looking at her depressed and unpleasant mood, Annie stayed away from asking her any question. She wanted to help her friend, but probably time was not right.

"Thanks," Hermione said, deadpanned, as she took the letter from Annie.

Annie just stared at Hermione as she read the letter, and in a blink of an eye, everything changed. The girl, who was looking dejected since the morning, was now sporting a wide smile on her face, with a dreamy look in her eyes.

She didn't know what was written in the letter that brought this sudden change in her friend's mood. But Hermione knew what brought this unexpected change in her demeanor. After all the letter read:

_Lunch – 1:30 PM. I'll pick you up from your office. It's a date._

And she could recognize that writing anywhere in the world.

* * *

**Author's note****: - Please REVIEW and tell me what you think of this chapter.**


	8. Breakup

**Author's Note: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.**

* * *

**Breakup **

Hermione was so deeply involved in her work that she didn't notice somebody entering into her office and silently closing the door.

"Good evening, Ms. Granger," A voice whispered in her ear, making her almost jump out of her seat.

She looked back angrily, but all her anger disappeared when her eyes met emerald green eyes of her best friend and boyfriend.

"Harry!" She exclaimed happily, leaping out of her chair in a dash, and hugged Harry tightly. Harry too wrapped his arms around her, and hugged just as fiercely.

Harry pulled back and kissed her on the lips, which soon turned into a passionate snogging session.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked once her breathing pace was under control.

"Well, it's time to leave." Harry said looking amused.

"Really?" Hermione said looking astonished. She checked her wristwatch, which confirmed Harry's statement.

"It looks like you lost the track of time, _again._" Harry commented, trying to keep his face straight. However, looking at Hermione's sheepish expression, he started snickering.

Hermione hit him on the arm to make him stop laughing. "Ok now, enough of that. Let's go." Hermione said collecting her things from the table and putting all the important manuscripts back on their places.

"Where's Annie?" Harry asked as he and Hermione exited the office.

"She left early because of some personal work." Hermione replied as they entered into the lift. Harry simply nodded.

Once they were out of the ministry, Hermione turned towards Harry.

"What are your plans for the night?" She asked.

Harry smiled at Hermione suggestively. "I know what I want to do at night." Harry whispered in her ear, lightly brushing his fingers around Hermione's waist, making her body tremble with pleasure, "But the question is, what you would like to do before that. I would suggest a movie, dinner, and then back to my place for rest of the night." He finished, smiling smugly at the effect he was having on his intelligent girlfriend.

Hermione was dazed for a moment, before she quickly recovered looking at the self-satisfied smile on Harry's face.

"Well, I would have to think about spending any time at your place. You know, tomorrow its Christmas Eve, and I don't want to feel tired when we go to the Burrow for the Christmas Eve party." She said in a mock serious tone, which was immediately caught by Harry, who simply grabbed her around the waist and apparated them straight to his flat. Movie and dinner could wait for another couple of hours.

* * *

"So, how do I look?" Ginny asked her friend and her brother's girlfriend, Jessica, who was standing behind her as she whirled around in her dress, standing in front of the mirror.

Jessica smiled in return. "You are looking beautiful, Ginny. Roger's going to have a hard time keeping his hands off you." She said looking amused.

Ginny and Jessica were at Burrow, getting ready in Ginny's room for Christmas Eve dinner party. Jessica was ready, but Ginny was taking her time to get ready. She was wearing a designer made, off shoulder, violet, knee-length dress, hugging her shapely curves alluringly.

While Jessica was thinking that Ginny was putting so much effort to look beautiful for her boyfriend, Roger, her friend, Ginny, was thinking about someone else, or to be more specific, a certain messy haired man with bright emerald-green eyes.

Just a week back Ginny had found out that Harry and Hermione had been dating for last three months. She just couldn't believe it. Harry had confessed his feelings for her, then why was he dating his best friend. She regretted saying no to Harry when he confessed his feelings for her, but she had no idea what else to do. She had given up on him during her last year at Hogwarts.

His confession, around eight months back, was completely unexpected. Never before, he gave any kind of indication about the existence of his feelings towards her. He had turned her world upside down. Now she was dating Roger, who was very good and loving towards her. She was sure she would have fallen in love with Roger, if her heart had not wanted to be with Harry.

Nevertheless, what confused her more than anything else was that why did Harry start dating Hermione. She was sure that Harry had no feelings towards Hermione during their school days. Sure, they were close, but Ginny was sure that Harry always thought of Hermione as his sister, nothing more, and nothing less.

_Was Harry trying to make her jealous by dating with Hermione? Was it some kind of a payback for rejecting his feelings? Was he trying to move on? Did he really have feelings for Hermione? Was he in love with her? _Various thoughts had been swirling through Ginny's mind for last one week.

Whatever his reasons were for dating Hermione, tonight Ginny Weasley decided to concentrate on her current boyfriend, Roger Davies and completely ignore Harry Potter, the bane of her existence.

There was a knock on the door and then Molly Weasley, Ginny's mother, came in.

"Are you ready dear? Roger's here along with everyone else." She said.

"Yes mum," Ginny said turning around from the mirror to look at her mother.

"Oh dears, you both look so beautiful." Mrs. Weasley said with a proud smile.

"Mum," They heard a loud voice coming from downstairs.

"Its Ron," Jessica said looking excited, eagerly making her way towards the door. Both Ginny and her mother laughed and followed Jessica out of the room. Ginny gave one last look on her reflection in the mirror, before she walked out of the room.

* * *

As Ginny neared to the bottom of the stairs, she saw Roger coming towards her. He was looking quite handsome. She blushed as almost every eye turned towards her. Room was crowded, she noticed. All her family members were there, including Percy and Charlie. Other than her family, Roger, Harry, Hermione, Hermione's parents, Neville, Luna, Dean, Seamus, Parvati, Padma, Lavender, Prof. McGonagall, Hagrid, Andromeda, Teddy, and some of her other school friends were there as well.

"You are looking beautiful, Ginny." Roger whispered in her ear and kissed her lightly on the lips. Pulling back, he hugged her lightly. Ginny hugged him back with a smile. Her smile faltered when her light brown eyes met a pair of green eyes. Her breath was stuck in her throat as she looked at him as it always did whenever she thought about him. She held his eyes for a moment, before looking away. She thought that she saw something in his eyes. Was it regret, she mused. She quickly quashed the thought and concentrated back on the man in her embrace.

She pulled back from Roger as Mrs. Weasley announced for everyone to move towards backyard.

* * *

Even though Ginny thought that the silent exchange between her and Harry had gone unnoticed, a certain brunette witch, who was also Harry's girlfriend, did saw the exchange.

Hermione felt an uneasiness coming over her when she saw Harry staring at Ginny. She was looking beautiful and almost every young male, who wasn't Ginny's brother or father, was looking at her longingly.

Hermione felt plain in her simple black jumper and blue jeans. She couldn't help but compare herself to Ginny. While Ginny looked graceful, Hermione felt herself to be brash. Hermione wished she had Ginny's beautiful silky red hair instead of her brown bushy mane. She couldn't help but think that Ginny looked exact replica of Harry's mother, Lily Potter, beautiful and elegant.

She felt as though if her heart was being squeezed as illogical thoughts started entering in her logical mind. She had been so happy when she and Harry started to date. Her long lost wish had come true. It was a pure bliss, her relationship with Harry. She had fallen in love with him all over again.

Analyzing the things thoroughly had always been a part of Hermione's personality. And same thing happened in case of her relationship with Harry. Her mind had started analyzing why Harry asked her out. He had confessed to her that he had feelings for Ginny, then what changed. Sure, Ginny said no to him, and Harry's life had been on a downward spiral after that. He was deeply affected by Ginny's rejection.

Sometimes she would think that the only reason he asked her out was that they slept together, and then she would berate herself for thinking like that.

Harry had been very caring since the day they went on their first date. His feelings had been genuine, as Hermione had felt them. However, that minute unseen and ignored glitch in their relationship was there, at least Hermione could see that.

Today was the first time Harry and Ginny had come face to face since Harry and Hermione started dating.

Hermione could feel her insecurities bubbling under the surface. She felt helpless and scared. She feared that Harry still had feelings for Ginny. The way he had been looking at her earlier, with that unreadable expression on his face, Hermione found it difficult to believe that Harry had moved on from Ginny.

"Here's your drink." A voice interrupted Hermione's jumbled thought process.

Hermione looked up to see Harry standing in front of her with two bottles in his hands. She smiled and took the bottle of Butterbeer from his hand. She was sitting in the backyard where guests were gathered.

"Thank you," She said as Harry sat down on an empty chair next to hers.

"What were you thinking? You seemed quite serious." Harry said taking a swig from his bottle of Firewhisky.

"Nothing serious," Hermione said taking a sip of her drink. Harry just snorted in return and looked like he was about to retort. However, he kept quiet.

Even though weather was quite cold, thanks to heating charms, backyard was very warm.

Hermione looked around. Everyone was enjoying. People were chatting, laughing, eating, and dancing. She looked over to where a temporary dance floor was set up. Couples were dancing on the dance floor, and on one side of the floor, a musical band was playing the music. Ron was dancing with Jessica, Bill was with Fleur, Luna was trying to teach some weird dance to poor Neville who was having trouble following her instructions. To Hermione's surprise to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were on the dance floor. Mrs. Weasley was blushing furiously at something Mr. Weasley was whispering in her ear as they swayed together.

Hermione put her glass on the table and looked at Harry who was lost in thoughts. Hermione felt a feeling of intense despair wash over her heart as she looked at him. Was he thinking about Ginny? Did he still want to be with her? No matter, how much Hermione tried, she couldn't stop those thoughts from coming into her mind.

Harry looked at her with concerned eyes. "Are you alright Hermione?" He asked worriedly.

"Huh? Oh yes, I am alright." Hermione said with a forced smile. Suddenly she got up from her chair, before Harry could ask her anything else.

"I need to use the bathroom. I'll be back in few minutes." She said and left without waiting for a reply from Harry.

Hermione took a deep breath, once she was inside the bathroom on the first floor. After using the toilet, she stayed there for few minutes. Once she was sure that her feelings were under control, she walked out of the bathroom.

She was going downstairs when she heard voices coming from Ginny's room that was on the first floor.

She silently walked towards the room. Door of the room was slightly open. She peeked inside to see Ginny and Roger having an intense conversation. Ginny was sitting on her bed and Roger was pacing in front of her. She knew it was wrong, but she could not help her curiosity as she tried to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"I don't understand what your problem is, Ginny?" Roger said looking furious, "Why don't you want to move in with me? I love you and you love me. We have been dating long enough to take it to the next level. Then, what is the problem?"

He waited for Ginny to answer, but she looked away from him.

When Ginny did not answer, Roger's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Why Ginny? Don't you love me anymore?" He asked jadedly.

"I...I am just not ready yet." Ginny said, looking anywhere but at Roger.

"Is it because of Harry Potter?" Roger said unexpectedly.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked sharply, looking at her boyfriend with narrowed eyes.

"Like you don't know," Roger replied with a derisive laugh.

"What are you trying to imply here, Roger? What does, my not moving in with you, have anything to do with Harry?" Ginny asked looking a bit angry.

Roger chuckled sarcastically. "Do you think I am blind? I saw when you were sneaking glances towards your precious Potter and his girlfriend, when you though nobody was watching. Jealousy was written all over your face." He said irately.

"I know you wish it'd have been you at Hermione's place." He added harshly.

Ginny was speechless as her face turned white.

"I am not jealous of Hermione." She said trying to sound stronger, but failed miserably.

"I think it's over between you and me." Roger said in a detached tone.

Ginny didn't say anything as tears flowed down her eyes.

"I…I am sorry." She whispered looking down at her hands in her lap, "I didn't want to hurt you."

"It doesn't matter anymore." Roger said with a last look at his ex-girlfriend and walked towards the door to leave.

Hermione quickly rushed towards Ron's old bedroom that was situated at the other end of the hall. She hurried into the room and closed the door without making any noise, before Roger came out of the room.

She slumped down against the door and closed her eyes. She had no idea what to think of what she just witnessed. Roger and Ginny were no longer a couple and they had broken up because of Harry. And that meant that Ginny Weasley, for whom Harry Potter had feelings, was once again single.

After some time Hermione heard footsteps going downstairs. She waited for some time and then got out of the room.

When Hermione arrived back in the backyard, she noticed that Ginny was talking to Jessica, looking cheerful and her face looking lovely, without any traces of tears. Roger was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey," A voice said in Hermione's ear. Hermione quickly turned around to find Harry smiling at her. She sighed with relief and returned the smile.

"You know I don't dance. Nevertheless, I have decided to make an exception for you Ms. Granger. So would you like to dance with me?" Harry asked with sham courtesy.

Hermione had to laugh at his antics.

"I'd love to dance with you, Harry." She replied with a sincere smile.

Harry smiled at her and kissed her lightly on the lips. Then he took her hand and led her to the dance floor where some couples were dancing on a slow song. Harry pulled Hermione in his arms and Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt Harry's on her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder and reveling in the warmth of his gentle embrace.

Hermione closed her eyes as she thought about what she had witnessed earlier and how that would affect her and Harry's relationship. How would Harry react to Ginny and Roger's break up? Would he want to be with Ginny?

She so desperately wanted to ask Harry if he was still in love with Ginny. However, she couldn't bring herself to do that. She was scared of the answer she would receive from him. What if he still loved Ginny? Did she have the strength to let him go if he still loved Ginny?

* * *

**Author's Note: - So what do you think? Please REVIEW.**


	9. Do You Want Me?

**Author's Note****: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.**

**Disclaimer****: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.**

* * *

**Do You Want Me?**

_She so desperately wanted to ask Harry if he was still in love with Ginny. However, she couldn't bring herself to do that. She was scared of the answer she would receive from him. What if he still loved Ginny? Did she __have the strength to let him go if he still loved Ginny?_

* * *

Weeks passed. However, Hermione couldn't bring herself to express her doubts in front of Harry. She was scared of his answer. When they were in school Hermione never really, let her feelings for Harry take over her life. She was content in loving him without letting him know. Since she never really expected Harry to return her feelings, it was easier to see him with other girls.

However, now that she knew how it felt to be with Harry with whom she had been in love with for so long, she knew consequences would be dire for her if she would have to live without his love once again.

Harry had become one of the most important elements required for Hermione's continued existence. It was almost impossible for her to think of living without him. However, his happiness was more important to her and the way he was around her, she was sure Harry was happy with her. He was. Wasn't he?

Hermione hadn't seen Ginny since the Christmas night. News of her and Roger's breakup was all over the wizarding newspapers and fashion magazines. She wasn't sure what Harry thought of the breakup. Surely he would have read and heard about it, but they never discussed about it.

It was the last week of January. Hermione was leaving her office.

"Annie, I am leaving right now. I'll be back before lunch hour is over." Hermione said to her friend and secretary. Annie simply nodded as she was busy doing something.

Usually Annie and Hermione took the lunch together. However, Harry was leaving for a mission that night for next couple of days. Hermione was a bit worried about him and hence had decided to have lunch with him.

Leaving her office, she headed towards the lift. When she reached to the level where Auror department was located, she got out of the lift.

It was lunch hour and she hoped that Harry would be free. When she entered the department, it was almost empty save for few aurors who were relaxing in the lunch hour.

"Hermione," Hermione heard a voice.

She turned around to see the jovial face of her former fellow Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom.

"Neville," Hermione said in a jolly voice. Moving forward, she hugged him.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting at home right now?" She asked.

Last time Hermione had seen Neville, was a couple of months back when he was discharged from St. Mungo. His healers had told him to take full rest for at least 2 months. He was not allowed to be back at work up until he fully recovered.

"I have just come back today." Neville answered, "And I am feeling completely fit now."

Hermione nodded. "I am happy that you're all right, Neville." She said with a genuine smile.

"I am just glad that Harry has stopped blaming himself." Neville said. "After I woke up at St. Mungo, Harry just kept apologizing for what happened. He'd been a right mess. No matter how many times I told him that it's not his fault, he just won't listen to me." He finished with a sigh.

"I understand what you mean. But you know how Harry is. He always blames himself for every bad thing that happens in the life of his loved ones." Hermione said with a faraway look in her eyes, remembering the days of war.

Neville squeezed her hand. "But he looked very happy this morning. And if I am not wrong a certain Ms. Granger is the reason behind it." He said in an amused voice, as he looked at Hermione with a knowing look in his eyes.

Hermione blushed furiously at what Neville said. She smiled shyly at him. "I hope so." She whispered.

Hermione opened her mouth to ask Neville where Harry was, when with a clang, lift opened and Harry stepped out, followed by Ginny Weasley.

Hermione forgot whatever she was about to say, as she just stared at Harry and Ginny with a petrified look on her face.

Harry saw Neville and Hermione standing at the entrance of the department, as Ginny came and stood next to him.

Hermione felt a surge of uncertainty coursing through her veins as she looked at Ginny and Harry. They looked so good together. She hadn't expected to see Ginny there; she wasn't prepared to deal with the redhead girl right now. She was panicking; she had to control herself before she fell apart right in front of the Ginny and Harry.

"Hi Harry, Ginny," Hermione said trying to keep her voice under control.

"Hi Hermione," Ginny replied with a forced smile, looking uncomfortable.

"Hermione, what are you doing here?" Harry asked looking surprised, coming over to her.

Hermione could detect a hint of tension in his posture. "Just wanted to surprise you," She replied with a shrug.

'Instead you just gave me a shock.' She thought laughing humorlessly in her mind.

"I thought we could have lunch together." She spoke again.

"Sure," Harry replied. Hermione simply nodded and looked at the reason of all the insecurities that were hitting her mind like a precarious tornado.

"Ginny, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked, trying to sound curious, instead of bitter.

Ginny looked flustered under Hermione's gaze.

"I had some work in the transportation department. While going back, I just ran into Harry. He told me that Neville was back, so I came along with him to meet Neville." Ginny answered, managing to keep nervousness out of her voice.

As Ginny talked to Neville, Hermione couldn't help but wonder that if that was the real reason Ginny came along with Harry to the Auror's department. She refrained from asking nevertheless. She knew why Ginny came with Harry, but she didn't want to think about that at the moment.

"Would both of you like to join us for the lunch?" Hermione asked out of courtesy looking at Neville and Ginny, surprising herself, as well as Harry and Ginny.

"Why not?" Neville said in a cheerful voice, unaware of the tension between other three people. Ginny simply nodded with a forced smile, agreeing with Neville. They decided to go to a muggle restaurant, which wasn't very far from the telephone booth that was used for entering into the Ministry.

Four of them were sitting in an open restaurant. While eating their lunch they chatted about their school days and their current jobs. Time passed very quickly and soon it was time for Harry and Neville to leave.

"Well, we better get going." Neville said looking at his watch.

"But there's still 20 minutes left before lunch hour gets over." Hermione said.

"Yeah, but we have to report back early." Harry said looking at Hermione with an apologetic smile, as he stood up along with Neville.

Hermione felt sad. She looked at Harry and tried to smile, which faltered in the next moment. She didn't know what to think. She couldn't help but worry about him. She stood up and hugged him tightly, forgetting both Neville and Ginny for a moment. Harry hugged her back. Pulling back slightly (though not letting go completely), he kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful." Harry said gently, recognizing Hermione's apprehension.

Incapable of saying anything Hermione simply nodded. She pulled back from him.

"You better come back in one piece, Harry Potter." Hermione chided good-naturedly.

"Yes mam," Harry said in a dramatic voice, giving a mock salute to Hermione.

Hermione just laughed at his antics.

She stepped closer to him. "I'll be waiting for you." She whispered in a heartfelt voice.

Harry kissed her forehead, looked into her eyes and said, "I know."

He turned to look at Neville who was trying his best to look anywhere but at the couple sharing an intimate moment in front of him.

"Let's go Neville." Harry said amusedly, looking at a blushing Neville.

Neville looked at him with wide eyes. "Yeah, let's go." He said in a rushed voice.

Harry looked at Ginny who was still sitting in her chair looking very uncomfortable.

"Bye Ginny," He said.

Ginny looked at him and stood up. "All the best, Harry, I know it's your first mission as a fully trained Auror and I am sure you'll do well." She said with a genuine smile, and hugged Harry, that made Hermione wanting to hex redhead girl into the next millennium.

Hermione felt extremely angry at Ginny's daring gesture, but controlled her anger. She knew Harry was already feeling perturbed with the whole situation and she didn't want to make it worse.

Hermione and Ginny watched Harry and Neville walking towards an empty alley next to the restaurant where they ate, to apparate back to the Ministry.

"Would you like to sit with me for next 20 minutes?" Hermione asked, turning her eyes to look at her redhead friend.

Ginny looked at Hermione with a sense of wariness in her eyes.

"Sure. I don't have anything else to do for next two hours." She said, agreeing with Hermione's offer against her better judgment. They both sat back down on the chairs they were occupying earlier, which happened to be in front of each other.

Hermione's mind was swirling with various unwanted thoughts right now. She felt her anger rising at the mere sight of Ginny. _Who the hell she was? What right Ginny had to interrupt in Harry's life when he is happy with her? Is he? Of course, he is; he's always smiling these days. Did Ginny really think that she could take him away from her? Did she still hold that much effect on Harry? Will Harry leave her for Ginny, if Ginny told him that she wanted him back?_

Hermione shook her head to clear her mind of wounding thoughts, but she could still feel her anger bubbling just under the surface.

"What were you doing at the Ministry, Ginny?" Hermione asked in a cold voice.

Ginny who was looking around her in an attempt to avoid Hermione's eyes heard her voice. Her eyes snapped towards Hermione's face that was looking back at her emotionlessly.

"I…I have already told you about that." Ginny said trying to sound calm, even though every nerve in her body was fluttering with nervousness and anxiety.

She had come to the Ministry to meet Harry. Since, she had broken up with Roger, her heart once again desired to reach her childhood fantasy. She was once again feeling like 11 year old girl who wanted Harry Potter to notice her. But equation had changed greatly since then. Now she was not the young girl with a huge crush on boy-who-lived. She was grown woman now. And Harry was not single. Moreover, he was in a relationship with his best friend, that he had always been very close with.

"Let us not play these games, Ginny." Hermione said in a cold voice.

"What do you mean by that?" Ginny asked guardedly.

Hermione leaned forward in her chair, resting her elbows on the table.

"Just stay away from Harry." She said in a low voice so that only Ginny would hear her. After saying that, Hermione got up from her chair to leave. She didn't want to spend a single moment in the company of Ginny. However, before she could leave, Ginny spoke.

"And what if Harry doesn't want to stay away from me?" She asked standing up and looking straight into Hermione's eyes.

Hermione felt as though if a hand was squeezing her heart tightly as she heard her deepest fears coming out of Ginny's mouth. She straightened herself, trying to infuse some confidence in her voice and posture.

"Harry's with me now. He loves me, and sooner you understand this better off you will be." Hermione said glaring at Ginny.

Tears welled up in Ginny's eyes. She didn't want to believe Hermione's words. Harry had confessed his feelings for her. Those feelings just could not go away so quickly.

"What if he still loves me Hermione? Would you let him go?" She asked.

"He loves me." Hermione whispered and walked away from Ginny without looking back.

Hermione wasn't sure whom she was trying to convince with those words, Ginny or herself.

* * *

**Author's Note****: - So what do you think? Did you like it? Please tell me through your REVIEWS.**


	10. Slipping Away

**Author's Note****: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.**

**Disclaimer****: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.**

**Slipping Away**

* * *

_Hermione wasn't sure whom she was trying to convince with those words, Ginny or herself._

* * *

As Hermione apparated back to the Ministry, she felt like she was drowning in the pool of her own emotional turmoil. Why things had to turn this way? Why was she not strong enough to reveal her fears and insecurities in front of Harry? They had been best friend for years now. They talked about everything in the past (at least Harry had). Never before there had been circumstances where they couldn't talk about their doubts and fears with each other. Then why now?

* * *

Hermione found it extremely difficult to focus on her work for next few days. All she could think about was where she stood in Harry's life. On surface, Harry had looked content with their relationship and she desperately wanted to hope that it was the situation under the surface as well. However, her self-doubts wouldn't let her do so. Annie tried to help her, but her soothing words did nothing to make her feel better.

As days passed, there was no news about Harry either. Last, she had seen was the day he had left for the mission. After that, she had asked Neville about his return at least twice or thrice. But since any information regarding the mission was to be kept confidential, she didn't get much out of Neville except that it was about to be over.

* * *

For Hermione, each day away from Harry felt like ages. Only thing that kept her going was that he would be back soon and then he would put an end to all her miseries and insecurities. In the few months that they had been together, Harry never showed that he wasn't happy with her. He was always doing things like smiling, laughing, joking, teasing…at least that's what she saw whenever he was around her. She hadn't seen the ghost of his past-unrequited feelings in his eyes for a long time now. Then why did she doubt his feelings for her? Why she still felt that he wanted to be with Ginny, that he craved for Ginny's love instead of hers?

Hermione had never felt so vulnerable in her life before. Harry was the person who could make her feel like this. He always had this effect on her. His actions sometimes would sometimes make her feel happiest person in the world and sometimes she would feel like loneliest.

Even if a large part of her had started to believe that Harry had never loved her, that she was only filling Ginny's space in his heart, a very small part of her was still hanging onto the hope that Harry loved her. That part believed that he wanted her not Ginny, that with Ginny, it was just an infatuation, not love. Even if that small part was just an illusion of hers, she still wanted to hang onto it. She never wanted to give her hopes up…she didn't want to give up Harry.

* * *

With days passing, Hermione had started to feel depressed and tired, and it was becoming very difficult for her to hold onto her hopes. She felt as though if her hopes were slipping away from her hands like slippery sand.

Then, something happened that perhaps broke down that illusion of hers into pieces. It had happened three weeks after Hermione had warned Ginny to stay away from Harry.

Hermione had taken an early leave from her work. She had to go to Diagon Alley to get some books for work related problems. She flooed to the Leaky Cauldron directly from her office, as she felt very out of focus to concentrate for apparating.

After taking care of the books she wanted to purchase, Hermione wandered around the Diagon Alley for some time, to clear her head. This was the first time she had come to a wizarding public place, since the day Harry had left for his mission. She could see people pointing towards her and talking behind her back in low voices. However, she paid no mind to it and continued her meaningless stroll.

After some time when she was tired of her aimless wandering, she decided to go back to her flat. She was walking back towards the Leaky Cauldron when she saw Ron and Jessica coming out of the shop, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Ron was holding some shopping bags and Jessica was holding a medium sized square box in her hand.

"Ron," Hermione called walking towards Ron and Jessica. Ron turned around and saw Hermione walking towards him and Jessica, through the crowd.

"Hermione," Ron said recognizing his bushy haired friend.

"Hey Ron," Hermione said with a smile as she hugged her second best friend in the world.

Ron hugged her back and pulled back with a wide smile on his face.

Hermione felt good seeing Ron's jovial face. After weeks of desolation, it was nice to see the face of her best friend. She could literally feel the stretch of her face muscles as she smiled.

"It's so nice to see you Ron." Hermione said in a heartfelt voice.

"Same here, Hermione. So how are you doing? It feels like I haven't seen you for ages." Ron said.

"I am fine." Hermione said. Her eyes fell on Ron's girlfriend, who was looking towards them uncomfortably.

"Hey Jessica," Hermione said looking at the girl standing next to Ron.

However, instead of greeting Hermione, Jessica glared at her and then looked at her boyfriend.

"Let's go Ron. I don't want to associate myself with the likes of her." She said venomously.

Hermione and Ron were flabbergasted. Hermione broke the silence.

"What does that supposed to mean, Jessica?" Hermione asked, frowning, as Ron recovered from his shocked state.

"What's wrong with you?" Ron asked looking angry.

However, Jessica ignored him, as she continued to glare at Hermione.

"What I mean is that I don't like to associate myself with a selfish bitch like you. You know Harry doesn't love you. He loves Ginny. Still you are trying to come in between them." Jessica said bluntly. Hermione looked shocked at her malicious words.

Over the last few years, Jessica and Ginny had become good friends, and almost best friends ever since Jessica started dating Ron. Ginny considered Jessica as a part of Weasley family. Since Jessica and Ginny worked together, Jessica had noticed that her friend looked unhappy for last couple of weeks. She could see that Ginny looked lost in her thoughts most of the time. It looked like she wasn't getting enough sleep and that she wasn't eating properly. Jessica tried to ask her what was wrong, but Ginny always denied that something was wrong.

Finally, when she couldn't take it anymore, Jessica forced Ginny to tell her what was wrong. In response, Ginny had broken down in front of her and told her about how Harry had confessed his feelings to her and how she had turned him down, and then what had happened at the restaurant and that Hermione had asked her to stay away from Harry. Ginny had confessed that she still loved Harry and regretted to turn him down, and she believed that Harry still had feelings for her. Jessica felt bad for her friend and felt very angry with Hermione.

Jessica had never been very fond of Hermione. She would always interfere in lives of Harry and Ron. Even though Ron was Jessica's boyfriend, he would always go to Hermione if he had any problem. Jessica and Ron had few arguments over it in the past, but nothing changed. However, what surprised her most was that how easily Harry and Ron allowed Hermione to boss them around.

But this time Hermione had crossed her limits. She was Ginny's friend. How could she treat her like that? Moreover, one thing was clear for Jessica, Hermione was taking advantage of Harry.

"You are nothing but a scarlet woman who takes advantage of her best friend. You don't deserve Harry or Ron's friendship." Jessica said angrily, not bothering to keep her voice down. Looking at Hermione's shaken face, she knew she had hit the right nerve. People had slowly started to look towards them. However, Hermione didn't notice this as she was looking at Jessica.

Hermione felt as though if she had turned deaf. She couldn't hear anything else other than what Jessica had just told her. She could see Ron was saying something to her, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. Thoughts swirled in her mind.

_Was she really taking advantage of Harry? Was she holding him back from reaching out for his happiness? They were best friends. She wanted him to be happy. She had never tried to come between Harry and his happiness. How could Jessica say that she was taking advantage of him? She didn't know a thing about her and Harry. Harry would tell her if he was not happy with her. Wouldn't he? Was Harry happy with her or every happy emotion he had shown in front of her was just a façade? Did he regret going out with her? Did he agree to go out with her because they slept together? Was he going out with her out of pity rather than love? She wanted Harry to tell her if he was not happy with her. _

However, deep down, she knew that Harry would never tell her. He would never hurt her; even if that meant that, he would have to hurt himself.

Hermione felt her anger rising at Jessica's incriminations. She felt angry with herself for letting her say all those things to her. She felt angry with Harry for acting like a self-sacrificing hero. If he wanted to be with Ginny, he should have told her. They were best friends and he didn't have to hide his feelings from her. She wasn't some damsel in distress who needed his pity. Who the hell he think he was? If Harry loved Ginny, then Hermione wouldn't have come in between them. She would have let him go. He just had to tell her and she would have done anything for him.

But no, he had to go ahead and sacrifice his own happiness. Hermione wanted to hit something. She could feel it as she started to lose control. She could feel the angry energy bubbling inside her, fighting to come out.

"You know what, Hermione, you are really stupid if you think that Harry would choose an ugly duckling like you over a beautiful girl like Ginny." Jessica said sneering at Hermione's face.

"That's enough Jessica." Ron screamed his face turning a shade of red due to anger. Jessica was shocked at his outburst. She realized that she had gone a bit too far in her fit of anger. She opened her mouth to say something, but Hermione interrupted her.

"How dare you say those things to me? You don't know a thing about me and Harry, so keep your bloody judgments to yourself." Hermione said in a cold voice.

All the frustration, fears, hurt, and anger that Hermione had been feeling in last couple of weeks came out in form of accidental magic as Hermione lost her control and the glass of the large window in front part of Madam Malkin's shop broke down all of a sudden. People who were standing near the window screamed as they were hit with some tiny pieces of broken glass. Luckily, there were just few cuts and scratches and nobody was seriously hurt.

Jessica looked truly scared as she stared at Hermione with wide fearful eyes. Hermione got a little satisfaction from this, but she wasn't done yet.

Hermione stepped closer to Jessica. "I am leaving you because you are Ron's girlfriend, but next time I won't be so forgiving." She said looking straight into Jessica's eyes.

Jessica turned her eyes to look at her boyfriend, hoping that he would say something to Hermione. But he didn't say anything. He just stared back at her with loathing.

Hermione looked at Ron. "I have to go." She said in an urgent voice as she felt herself breaking down.

Ron opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything Hermione disappeared.

* * *

Hermione found herself standing inside her bedroom at her flat. She had managed to apparate without splinching herself. Then, she just fell on her bed and broke down, her newly bought books lying on the floor, forgotten. She didn't know how long she cried, it was dark when she looked outside her bedroom window. When her tears subsided, she felt some noise coming from her kitchen. She wiped her tears away and got out of her bed.

Hermione walked out of the room and carefully moved towards the kitchen with her wand in her hand. Her wand dropped from her hand when she saw who it was.

"Harry," She said croakily, her voice hoarse from all crying.

Harry, who was cooking something, turned around.

"Hermione," He said looking astonished.

"I wasn't expecting you to be back so soon from the Ministry." He said with a smile.

His smile faded looking at Hermione's face. She looked angry.

Hermione felt as if Harry was teasing her with his fake smile. What Jessica said was still churning in her mind. She couldn't help but feel the sting of those words.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

Harry looked at her oddly. "Where else I would be?" He asked in a joking voice.

But he soon realized that Hermione was not in a mood of jokes today.

"Leave Harry," Hermione said unexpectedly.

"What?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"You heard me." Hermione replied.

"But why?" Harry asked looking at Hermione as if she had gone mad.

"Just go, Harry. Ginny would be waiting for you. She wants to be with you. And I am sure you also want to be with her." Hermione said tiredly.

"Ginny?" Harry asked feeling confused.

But Hermione didn't seem to hear him.

"Just leave me alone Harry." Hermione said again.

"But Hermione," Harry started, but Hermione just shook her head.

"Please leave." She repeated. With one last look at Harry, she walked out of the kitchen and back into her room.

Harry could hear the door of her room slamming shut. He walked towards her room and knocked on the door.

"Hermione, please open the door." Harry pleaded.

"Go away Harry." He heard Hermione's voice coming from inside the room.

"Hermione please," Harry pleaded, but this time there was no response from her.

Harry just gave one last look at the door of Hermione's bedroom, before apparating out of her flat.

* * *

**Author's Note****: - So what did you think of this chapter? Please tell me through your reviews. I know Hermione is a little OOC in this chapter and it contains too much angst. Hopefully next chapter would set everything right.**


	11. My Savior

**Author's Note****: - Apologizing in advance for spelling and grammar mistakes.**

**This is the last chapter. I would like to thank all those who read this story, added it to favorites and alert list, and reviewed the story. Thank you so much.**

**Disclaimer****: - I do not own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.**

* * *

**My Savior**

_Harry just gave one last look at the door of Hermione's bedroom, before apparating out of her flat._

* * *

Harry groaned as the early sunlight hit his face. He opened his eyes and immediately closed them, grumbling loudly.

"Ughh…" He muttered as he brought himself into sitting position, his body aching due to sleeping in same position throughout the night. He stretched his body with a little difficulty and looked around. He found himself on the couch in the living room of his apartment.

For a moment, he felt confused. What was he doing in his flat? He should have been at Hermione's place, not here. Then he remembered he had been there last night. But then, Hermione had asked him to leave and said something about going to Ginny. But why? Why would she say that? Did Ginny say something to her?

Harry rubbed his forehead tiredly and got up from the couch. He decided to talk with Hermione about what she said, but before that, he needed to freshen up.

After taking a quick shower and dressing up, Harry walked out of his room and into the kitchen to find some unopened owl posts lying on the kitchen counter. Harry went through his mails. Some of them were fan mails, few other letters were from different wizarding newspapers and magazines, perhaps asking for his interviews, and rest were daily editions of the Quibbler of last few weeks, a magazine-cum-newspaper run by father of Harry's school friend Luna Lovegood. It was published on the daily basis.

After the war ended, Daily Prophet, which was then one of the leading newspaper in the magical world, had met its downfall. People had realized that most of the stories run by the Daily Prophet against Harry were all lies. Quibbler, which was once considered as an eccentric and inadequate magazine, had become one of the leading magazines in the magical world.

Harry was going through the daily editions of the magazine when he saw something that caught his eyes immediately. It contained a picture of Hermione, Jessica, and Ron. Jessica and Hermione were glaring at each other and Ron was standing next to them looking angry as well. Harry checked the date to find that it was previous day's edition.

Harry quickly went through the whole article. He was fuming with anger by the time he finished reading. Since it was the Quibbler, Harry believed that they had printed the true story. Now he could understand why Hermione was so upset last night. He felt extremely angry with Jessica for saying all those things to Hermione. And Ron, didn't he do anything to defend Hermione.

Harry rubbed his face, trying to control his anger. Without thinking, he closed his eyes and apparated to Ron's apartment. Since it was very early in the morning, Harry expected Ron to be home and maybe Jessica too.

* * *

Harry found himself in the kitchen at Ron's apartment. There was complete silence, which was a little odd since it was _Ron's _apartment.

"Ron," Harry called. He heard Ron grumbling as he came out of his bedroom, rubbing his eyes. He was still wearing his cloths from the last evening that Harry recognized due to the picture printed in the Quibbler.

Ron looked tired, Harry noticed. There were light brown circles under his eyes and his hair were a mess, even more so than Harry's. It looked like he had not slept at all during the night.

"Harry," Ron said looking surprised. He smiled at his best friend, but his smile faded when he saw the angry expression on Harry's face and magazine he was holding in his hand.

"I…I am sorry mate." Ron apologized. He didn't know what else to say.

Harry calmed down a bit. "What happened?" He asked.

Without wasting any second, Ron told him everything, from Jessica's accusations to Hermione's magical outburst that happened in the Diagon Alley.

"What I don't understand is that why did Jessica say that you loved Ginny?" He asked looking confused.

Harry felt uncomfortable, but decided to tell the truth. He told him about his feelings for Ginny, about how he had confessed his feelings to her and how she had turned him down.

"But if you _loved _Ginny, then why did you and Hermione get together?" Ron asked. "Don't you think it'd been unfair to Hermione, that you'd been using her to forget Ginny?"

Harry smiled wistfully at Ron. "I liked Ginny, Ron, but I love Hermione. I am in love with her." He said. Ron looked surprised at his confession.

Harry didn't know how to tell Ron in a more detailed way about what he felt for Hermione. Only thing he knew was that realization of his love for Hermione was sudden. However, more he thought about it, more he realized that he had loved her the whole time, even when he had a crush on Ginny, it was Hermione he loved and cared about all the time.

He still remembered when Hermione had come to his place for the first time after he had confessed his feelings to Ginny, and was turned down in return. Something had changed that night, Harry was sure of that. It was like something in his heart had fallen just into its right place. Hermione had stayed at his place for that night. In the morning, Harry had gone to his room to wake her up, but she was sleeping. He didn't know why he hadn't realized it before, but a sleeping Hermione looked so vulnerable. Looking at her peaceful and vulnerable sleeping form, he had a very strong urge to protect her from all kinds of hurt in the world, something that he had never felt ever before.

That was just the beginning of those weird yet heart-warming feelings. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't get rid of the feelings he was having for his female best friend. He had started to feel very possessive towards her. It was like a completely new world was opened in front of him. It was completely new, yet felt so familiar. Sweet warmth he had started to feel in his heart while thinking about Hermione was something he realized, he had always felt about her. He had never felt this way while thinking about Ginny.

When he saw Ginny with her boyfriend in the Diagon Alley next day, to his surprise he felt no jealousy towards them. It was like his heart and mind were cleared of some kind of foggy thing, and it was refilled with a bright light, which made him feel the presence of Hermione in his heart.

Harry felt scared of what he was feeling. It was so strong and so intense than what he _used _to feel for Ginny that he didn't know how to handle it. Only thing he could do was keeping himself away from Hermione. However, that didn't work either. It just increased his longing to see Hermione, to have her near him, to hold her…to love her.

Then came the night when Hermione kissed him. Only two words could truly describe that night…Truly Magical…a magic so different and so beautiful from what he had learned at Hogwarts. He also couldn't help but think that how adorable a sloshed Hermione looked. Not only she had kissed him, but she had also said him those three magical words, that he had never really thought about while crushing on Ginny. In fact when he had confessed his feelings to Ginny, never once he had said to her that he loved her…now he realized that he didn't say it because he didn't feel that way.

He had to leave Hermione that night. He wasn't sure how she would have reacted had he stayed. He wanted to think she'd have been happy. But Harry didn't want to take the risk, at least not that night.

From thereon he couldn't deny his feelings anymore. He wanted Hermione with a passion. He loved her…there was no denying to it anymore.

He didn't see Hermione for next three months, a very long time for him. He had started to believe that she regretted their kiss or she had completely forgotten about the kiss that happened in her drunken state. Former option seemed more appropriate as Hermione hadn't contacted him at all. And he couldn't bring himself to talk to her either. He had really started to hate the uncertainties he was feeling.

But after Neville was hit with a spell during the mission, Harry didn't realize when and how, but he found himself standing outside Hermione's apartment. With a jolt, he gathered that he had always done that. Hermione was his only source of comfort and feeling safe. If Harry Potter was the savior of the world, Hermione Granger was the savior of Harry Potter. That night had given him the strength to embrace the feelings he was having for Hermione and act on it. From then his life had just been all about Hermione.

Harry had hoped that Hermione didn't believe it when Jessica said that he loved Ginny. But, looking at her reaction last night, he was sure she believed that.

_Of course, she would be upset with it. You never really told her that you have no feelings for Ginny. _A voice said in Harry's mind.

_But, I thought she knows that I love her, not Ginny. _Harry thought back, feeling stupid for talking to his own mind.

_She's Hermione. She always overthinks and overanalyzes everything. You should've known that. _Voice reprimanded him.

Harry closed his eyes for a moment, guilt of hurting Hermione overwhelming him.

"Harry, are you all right?" Ron asked, bringing Harry out of his reverie.

"Huh?" Harry said looking disoriented, "Oh yeah, I am all right." He answered.

Suddenly, he remembered something and once again felt his anger rising.

"Where's Jessica?" He asked looking around the flat.

Ron looked at little comfortable at his question. "She's not here." He replied in a small voice.

Harry looked at him, giving him a look (which said _I-know-you-are-not-telling-me-everything),_ expecting him to continue.

"I broke up with her last night and then I sort of kicked her out." Ron said nonchalantly, his face turning red, due to anger or embarrassment, Harry couldn't tell for sure.

Harry was shocked. Whatever answer he had expected, this wasn't on the list.

"I…I don't know what to say." Harry said helplessly.

Ron simply shrugged. "Don't say anything. It's been a long time coming. Jessica always had problems with Hermione even if she didn't show it upfront. I thought it would go away with time, but I was wrong. Last night she asked me to choose between her and Hermione. Well you can see whom I chose." He said with a smile.

"Ron, I…" Harry started, but Ron interrupted him.

"Harry, you and Hermione are my best friends. You both are a very important part of my life and Jessica refused to understand it. She hurt Hermione, and in that she hurt you and me as well." He said in a serious voice.

Harry stared at him for a second and then he just burst out laughing. Ron looked startled.

"Wow! That's probably the longest emotional speech I have ever heard coming out of your mouth." Harry said in an amused voice.

Ron looked horrified, but then he grinned at his best friend of more than a decade.

"Do you think Hermione will promote my emotional range from tea spoon to say, probably a tea cup?" He asked with a cheeky smile.

Harry and Ron shared a good laugh at this.

"Have you talked to Hermione yet?" Ron asked after a couple of minutes.

"No," Harry said gloomily. "But I'll talk to her soon. Before that there's something else I have to do." He said.

Ron nodded absentmindedly. Harry was about to leave when he recalled something.

"Hey Ron," He said.

"Yeah," He said looking up at Harry.

"Would you be my best man?" Harry asked unexpectedly.

Ron simply gawked at Harry as his mind absorbed what exactly his best friend had asked.

"Sure mate," He replied with a wide smile.

"Are you sure she'll say yes?" He asked looking curious.

"She has no choice." Harry replied with a mischievous grin.

Ron just laughed heartily as Harry disapparated from his apartment.

* * *

Harry apparated directly outside the Burrow. He walked towards the front door and knocked. After some time Molly Weasley opened the door.

"Hello Mrs. Weasley," Harry said with a polite smile.

"Hello Harry dear, please come in." Molly said smiling as she stepped aside to let Harry enter the house. She closed the door once Harry was inside.

Molly walked towards the kitchen and Harry followed her. Harry was sure that Mrs. Weasley had already read the news about what happened in the Diagon Alley last evening, as she didn't welcome him with one of her trademark bear hugs.

When Harry entered into the kitchen, Ginny and Jessica were already sitting there.

Harry stiffened for a moment as he looked at both the girls. He saw, as Ginny tensed a bit and Jessica looked a little fearful.

"Hi Harry," Jessica said timidly.

However, Harry completely ignored her and looked at Ginny.

"Ginny, can I talk to you, privately?" He asked. He could feel Mrs. Weasley's concerned eyes on him. He was surprised that she hadn't said a thing since he had entered into the kitchen.

"Sure," Ginny said smiling nervously.

Harry simply nodded and walked out of the kitchen. Ginny followed him.

They both were standing in the sitting room. Harry was thinking about how to say what he wanted to say, without being too much rude.

"Harry," Ginny said shyly, lightly touching his hand. Harry looked at her and immediately pulled his hand away from her.

"Don't get wrong ideas in your head, Ginny." Harry said in a cold voice, "I am not here to create a love story." He said.

Ginny looked stunned. "I…I am…I am sorry. I thought…" But Harry interrupted her.

"I am not interested in knowing what you thought. I am here to tell you that I love Hermione, and if you and your friend, Jessica, have any problem with my relationship with Hermione, then just stay away from us. This time I am letting it go, but next time if you or Jessica tried to hurt Hermione, I won't be so lenient." Harry said in an intimidating voice.

Ginny's eyes filled with tears. "I am sorry Harry. I didn't know Jessica would do something like this. She's already feeling bad for what she did. I apologize to you and Hermione on her behalf." She said looking repentant.

Harry simply nodded and turned to leave. He reached to the front door and opened it. He was about to step out, when Ginny called him.

"Harry," Ginny said.

Harry turned around to look at her.

"Yes," He said.

"Did you ever love me?" She asked softly, looking at Harry with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"No," Harry said without hesitation, looking at her sadly.

She simply nodded and turned around to hide her tears from Harry.

Harry didn't speak anymore. He simply walked out of the house, leaving a dejected Ginny behind.

* * *

The moment Hermione opened her eyes her head started throbbing badly. Rubbing her temple, she checked her alarm clock, which showed that she was already late for her work. So she decided to take the day off.

She slowly got up from her bed and took a step forward, when her right foot hit something on the floor. She looked down to find the bag of books she had purchased the previous day in the Diagon Alley. And just like that, all the things that had happened the day before came back rushing to her mind. She staggered and immediately grabbed the edge of her bed to keep herself from falling. Hot tears of anger burned her eyes. She composed herself and picked up the bag filled with her new books. She put the bag on the nightstand and made her way out of the bedroom, with a quill and a parchment in her hand.

She sat down on the couch in her sitting room to write a letter to Annie to tell her about taking the day off. Since she didn't have an owl, she decided to send the letter through floo network. She was set to write the letter when doorbell rang.

Frustrated, Hermione got up from the couch and walked towards the front gate.

She opened the door. Harry was standing on the other side. Before Hermione could say anything, he walked straight past her and into the apartment. Hermione closed the door and turned around to look at Harry.

"What are you doing here?" She asked looking at Harry who was staring back at her. Harry didn't say anything. He just crossed his arms across his chest and stared at Hermione with a secret smile.

Hermione frowned at his lack of response.

"Harry," She said in a loud voice, "I asked what you are doing here. Shouldn't you be with Ginny right now? Does she know you are here?"

Still Harry didn't say anything. Hermione was getting very frustrated with his lack of response.

"Harry, say something," She said in a loud frustrated voice.

Finally, Harry stepped forward, towards Hermione.

"Are you done with your tantrums?" He asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Hermione was taken aback by his question and the look on his face. "Umm…huh…what?" She said foolishly.

Harry simply rolled his eyes and before Hermione could realize what was happening, he threw her over his shoulder and walked towards her bedroom.

For a second Hermione was left shocked and breathless at the sudden movement. But she gained her senses soon.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Hermione yelled, "Put me down this instant." She ordered.

However, Harry just ignored her as he walked inside her room and closed the door. Moving towards the bed Harry lowered Hermione on the bed gently, and sat on the edge of the bed next to her.

Hermione didn't move at all. She simply stared at Harry who was looking at her tenderly.

Hermione couldn't look into his tender eyes anymore as those eyes just reminded her of the most precious thing she had lost last evening. She closed her eyes to stop the tears from coming out.

She felt Harry's warm hand on her cheek, caressing slowly and lovingly.

"The guy that you were in love with while we're in school, that was me. Isn't it?" Harry asked in a soft voice.

Hermione's eyes snapped open. She didn't need to say anything; Harry already saw the answer in her eyes. He leaned down and kissed her fully on the lips.

He realized why that day Hermione had said that '_I never had a crush on you, Harry.'_

It was never a crush to begin with. Crush happens and fades with time, but love simply evolves and only grows with time. What he felt for Ginny was nothing more than a mere crush. It lasted as long as it did, because it was easy to hang onto that feeling. Somewhere in part of his sub-conscious mind, he knew that this feeling would not have lasted long, because there was no foundation for that feeling to stand and survive for long.

He pulled back and looked into Hermione's surprised eyes.

"I love you." He whispered with a grin.

Hermione grinned back. "I love you too."

She brought herself into sitting position.

"But what about Ginny?" Hermione asked.

Harry took her in his arms and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I never loved Ginny. It was just an infatuation, nothing more. I am in love with you." He said the last part affectionately.

"Oh Harry," Hermione wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. In return, Harry tightened his arms around her. They stayed like that for next few minutes.

"Oh yes, I forgot to tell you about something." Harry said pulling back from Hermione.

"What?" Hermione asked with interest.

"I am getting married soon." He said in a serious voice.

Hermione felt confused. Harry was getting married.

When Hermione didn't speak, Harry continued.

"Ron has agreed to be my best man, but I still need a bride. So would you like to fill the spot of bride in my wedding?" Harry said with a roguish grin.

Hermione looked dumbfounded. "Are you proposing me?" She asked with a slight frown on her face.

Harry made a thoughtful face, tapping his chin with his index finger.

"You can consider it as a proposal." He said wistfully. But grinned next moment, when Hermione hit him playfully.

"You are crazy." She said amusedly.

Harry just grinned at her, before pulling her back into a passionate kiss.

* * *

**Author's Note****; - So what do you think? Does it remove the disappointments from the last chapter? Please tell me through your reviews.**


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